Angel Eyes
by Wakaran a i xx
Summary: We’ve seen Final Fantasy VIII through Squall’s eyes. Now let’s see it from the beginning—From Rinoa’s POV. You think you know the story…but you haven’t seen anything yet. See how things change through another’s eyes.
1. The Princess

[Eeee, I'm not sure if this has ever been done or if it will even float, but it's worth a try, ne? ]

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Angel Eyes

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Written by Captor Sakura

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Disclaimer: I definitely do not own Final Fantasy VIII, the characters, or anything else along those lines. Don't sue me 

The scenery outside the window were a blur of colors as the train raced over the tracks as it made its way towards Timber. A young girl lay sleeping in a very furnished bed, gently rocking this way and that because of the train's movements, though surprising never arousing from her state of sleep. One hand was by her face, her arm at an angle, the other atop a CD player, trapping it between her hand and her stomach. The CD was on its last track, and the soft music of 'Eyes on Me' played into the woman's ears. The sunlight that filtered through the window illuminated the single ring that hung from a silver chain around her neck.

Looking about the very same room, you would never have thought you were in a regular train, and in fact, you're not. Not really. The room carried everything that a real bedroom in a stationary house would hold, making the train surprising lavish and comfortable. Outside

the door, two male voices could be heard whispering increasing louder to each other.

"You wake her up!"

"What, are you crazy? You saw what she did to me last time! It's your turn!"

"Awww, man…Well, how badly could it be this time around? Maybe she was just having a rough day that day."

"Whatever you say to make it easier on you, buddy."

"…You owe me big time for this, Watts."

The door slid open, and two men walked cautiously onto the pink carpet as if it were made of acid. One was dressed in a blue shirt and long blue shorts, topping off the ensemble with tan hiker shoes. The other wore a white shirt with dark green cargo pants, with a blue hat, yellow vest and black running shoes. The girl in the bed stirred slightly, and the two guys froze, but she simply turned onto her side, seemingly still asleep. Letting out a relieved sigh, Zone approached the bed slowly.

"Um…Princess?" Zone whispered, and Watts hit him on the arm. "Ow!" Zone yelled, rubbing the spot on his arm where he had been hit. The girl's eyes tightened, and her grip on the player became stronger. Seeing her slight movements, Watts grabbed onto Zone's arm and pulled him backwards.

"Now you've done it!" Watts said.

"What are you…ahh!" Zone started to ask what Watts was talking about, but then noticed the girl moving himself.

"I…told…you…" The girl said slowly as she sat up, clutching one of the pillows, "Not to call me Princess!" Brown eyes, now visible, narrowed slightly as she threw the pillow at the two. Petrified that she had thrown something that could do bodily damage the guys let out a scream and fell on top of each other in a heap. Smiling at the sight, the girl stood up and put a hand on her hip, tossing the CD player onto the bed.

"This better be good if you woke me up," Rinoa said, and made her way out of her room and towards the front of the train. Rising to their feet, Zone and Watts rubbed their heads and quickly followed after Rinoa.

"Yes! Our informants from Galbadia, we met up with them while we were there. Apparently the President in making his way to Timber," Watts began.

Coming upon the strategy room, Rinoa stopped and turned to face him. "What, really?"

"Yeah. He's coming in by train," Zone said. "And who knows what the guy's planning. We have to stop him before he can arrive at Timber. Any ideas?"

Rinoa looked around the room, and opened up a cupboard in the back, taking out a model train set and placing it on the table. "Simple. A snatch and grab. The rails are our territory, boys. We'll just grab his car and confront him!"

"Eh…not that simple. The car that the President is supposed to be in, it's in between two other cars," Watts informed.

Rinoa bit her bottom lip, staring at the train set. She sure hoped her father's military involvement paid off now. "Then we'll have to switch cars somehow. There's two switch points here," Rinoa said, pointing to two places on the set where the tracks could switch. Apparently it was a smaller version of the area where they were in. "We can do it then."

"Great! But there's more…" Zone said, starting to feel nervousness creep in and resisted holding onto his stomach.

Watts nodded. "It won't be that easy. The escorts have guards in them, obviously. But they have a sound and temperature sensor as well. Getting onto the train without being caught isn't even the hardest part. The uncoupling is the tricky thing here. We were able to get the codes to disable it, but someone is going to have to tamper with the control system that handles the coupling."

"Okay…" Rinoa said sluggishly, taking the information in. "So that's about…7 steps give or take. How long do we have?"

"The distance between where we start off and the switch points is approximately 5 minutes. If we don't pull this off before then, our trains will collide and it'll be all over," Zone said.

"5 minutes? We're going to need help with this, then…I sure wish SeeD would help us out for once," Rinoa said sadly.

"You've been trying to hire them forever, Rinoa. Just give it up," Zone said.

Rinoa stared at the model intensely, then clapped her hands together. "Oh! I almost forgot! Seifer!"

"Your _boyfriend_?" Watts sarcastically said.

Rinoa made a face at him. "_Ex_-boyfriend. Anyway, Seifer sent me a letter a few days ago. He has his exam today. He invited me to this party that's being held tonight at the Garden! He'll be able to introduce me to the Headmaster. We'll get some SeeD's for sure!"

Zone and Watts looked at each other doubtfully, then looked back at Rinoa. "Whatever you say, Princess."

Rinoa hit them both then giggled, making her way to the door. "Turn this train around! We're heading for Balamb. If it all works out, we'll have to make a professional presentation when I come back. Can't look shabby in front of real SeeD's, right?" She then stopped under the doorway, coming to realize something.

"I have nothing to wear!"


	2. Night of the SeeD Ball: Destiny

[Thanks AngelD, Riona and DarkSaiph! I hope to do it justice, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!]

Soft ivory heels hit the pavement as Rinoa stepped off the train, now stationed at Balamb, and walked towards the exit into town. Heavy footsteps were soon heard as Zone and Watts ran to catch up with her. Standing at the top of a flight of stairs at the entrance of the train station, Rinoa placed both hands on her hips, one wrist now adorning a silver bracelet, waiting for her two friends to catch up.

It was unreasonably warm for a March night, and Rinoa was happy for her choice in clothing attire; an ivory colored, short dress which was cut to fit, with a shiny chiffon layer on top, going about 2 inches past the length of the dress._ I had nothing in that closet of mine._ _Good thing I just ordered this! Didn't think it would come on such short notice. Lucky me!_

Zone and Watts finally showed up, with a dog in tow, both of them in regular clothing. Smiling at them, Rinoa walked down the stairs and walked through the town of Balamb towards the car rental. "I'll be back at around 12-ish. You guys can stay in the town if you want. Have fun! Cause we'll be extremely busy once we get the mission started," Rinoa talked as she walked.

Coming across the edge of town, Rinoa turned and squatted down to pet the dog. "You be a good girl, Angelo! Keep an eye out on these two, okay? Especially Zone." Angelo barked happily and Rinoa had to keep the dog at bay as it was trying to lick at her. She didn't want to have to reapply her makeup, but lovingly petting Angelo to make up for it.

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Zone said as Rinoa stood back up.

Rinoa winked at him. "I know about those _special_ magazines of yours. The poor girls here won't know what hit them."

Zone turned red and Watts and Rinoa laughed. "You be careful out there, Rinoa. We want you back in one piece," Watts said as his laughter died down.

Rinoa waved it off and began walking towards the car attendant. "Don't worry about me! I'll see you guys in a few. Bye!"

Zone and Watts waved and walked towards the water's shore, Angelo apparently leading the way.

"What can I do for you, miss?" The attendant asked as Rinoa approached.

"I need a ride to Balamb Garden," Rinoa answered.

The attendant nodded and a car soon pulled up, and she paid for the vehicle. "Thank you," Rinoa said as the man opened the door for her, and Rinoa got inside. The car exited Balamb and out onto the open road. As she stared out the window to the beach, the driver began making conversation to make the ride more enjoyable.

"Off to the open dance party at the Garden, hm?"

Rinoa pulled her eyes away from the scenery and nodded, looking at the driver. "Yes. My friend invited me."

"Ah, so your friend's a SeeD now, huh? There's a woman back in town who has a son attending that school. She sure hopes he passed his exam. Say congratulations to your friend! It's truly an honor."

The car had pulled up at the Front Gate, and Rinoa smiled and opened the door. "I will. Thank you."

"You have a nice night, miss."

Rinoa got out of the car and closed the door, and the car made its way around the driveway, another car behind it taking its place and delivering more people. Rinoa looked in wonder as she made her way towards the main building, the light music and laughter heightening the experience. Everywhere she looked she saw teenagers like her, huddled in groups and talking excitedly, and Rinoa only hoped that Timber would someday hold such happiness.

Upon entering the building, it was even noisier than the outside, the lights bright. Rinoa looked around, lost, wondering where to go.

"Welcome to Balamb Garden's Open Inauguration Party!" A female announcer's voice boomed over the PA system, and Rinoa stopped to listen, awaiting directions to where she had to go.

"For all festivities, head to the third floor ballroom hall! For tonight and this night only, the third floor is open to all graduated students as well as the public, except of course for Headmaster Cid's office, which is only open upon direct invitation. Again, head to the third floor ballroom hall! The night is young and the party's just begun!"

The announcer then signed off, and Rinoa was left with the bustling noise around her. She made her way towards the center, and climbed the stairs to the elevator. Having to wait for the next elevator for the one that had just left was full, Rinoa pressed her lips together to smooth out her lip gloss. _I wonder if Seifer is waiting upstairs? I don't see him anywhere down here or outside._

The elevator made a ringing noise and the door opened once again, and Rinoa filed in along with half a dozen other people. The one closest to the control panel pressed the '3F' button, and it made its way up yet again. The elevator chimed again as it reached its destination, and Rinoa walked off with the others, following them to the ballroom. She scanned the people who stood chatting away in the halls, but didn't find Seifer anywhere.

So Rinoa headed into the ballroom, where it was the only place left that Seifer could have been. At least, where she was allowed to venture in. She gasped in astonishment at the upbeat waltz music, and at the people dancing. But she didn't find him anywhere, unaware that Seifer had failed to become a SeeD again, and wasn't going to be present at the celebration. She figured there was just too many people around for her to spot him. Alone on the dance floor, Rinoa looked up through the glass roof at the starry night sky to notice a shooting star. _To Timber's independence, _Rinoa wished silently to herself.

Feeling someone's eyes on her, Rinoa lowered her head and turned to find that someone was indeed staring at her. Figuring the person noticed the shooting star as well, Rinoa pointed up to the sky and smiled. The guy nodded slightly, and Rinoa let down her hand and walked towards him. There were plenty of students dancing, and it was embarrassing for her to be alone. The guy seemed to be alone as well, a wallflower, and Rinoa was going to take the opportunity to get herself a partner. Maybe dancing around would enable her to finally find Seifer.

Reckoning he was like most guys, heck, like most people, he had to like a compliment, right? So as she stood in front of the wine holding man, Rinoa gave it her best. "You're the best looking guy here. Dance with me?" The guy didn't respond, and Rinoa resisted the urge to bite her bottom lip in frustration. _Okay…so he's tougher to crack._

"Let me guess…You'll only dance with someone you like? Okay then…Look into my eyes…" Rinoa looked into the guy's crystal blue eyes, and raised her hand up, pointing her index finger at him. She began rotating it in a circle in front of his eyes as she spoke, trying to hypnotize him. "You're-going-to-like-me…" Rinoa said slowly. "You're-going-to-like-me…Did it work?" Rinoa tilted her head and looked to him hopefully.

The man opened his mouth and Rinoa smiled as he finally spoke. "…I can't dance," he said.

Rinoa put a hand to her hip. Was that honestly the reason he was refusing to dance with her? Why he was resisting her charm? Because he couldn't dance? "You'll be fine. Come on. I'm looking for someone. I can't be on the dance floor alone." Rinoa noticed the man beginning to open his mouth again, probably to say no, but Rinoa quickly grabbed onto his hand and physically dragged him to the dance floor. She was very used to getting what she wanted, when she wanted, and although she wouldn't have taken 'no' for an answer, the guy hadn't rejected her yet, and Rinoa had to stretch that as far as she could.

Weaving in between dancing couples, Rinoa found a clear space for them and watched the others to see where the dance was. Rinoa stopped walking and turned to face him, finding the guy looking at her expectantly, and Rinoa placed his hands where they were supposed to go on her body. She began swaying this way and that, though she might as well have been dancing with a skeleton model. Rinoa twirled herself out, and as she twirled back in, the man bumped into her roughly, almost causing them both to trip over. _Ow! What is with this guy?_

Rinoa stomped her foot on the ground and let go of his hand, and the man looked down as if saying 'I told you so' and turned to walk off the dance floor. _Are you doing this to me on purpose?_ Rinoa thought, and ran after him, grabbing onto his hand yet again. _You're not leaving me now! _ Holding his hand up, her arm bent at the elbow, Rinoa turned as she started to get into the dance again, the guy inactively turning with her. As they came closer together to sway again, the guy hesitantly put his other hand to her side.

While Rinoa began to think that he was getting better, they bumped into a neighboring couple. Rinoa made a face at them, almost threatening to stick her tongue out childishly, upset that they ruined their momentum, and looked back at her partner and smiled, hoping to keep his spirits up. _You're not as bad as you think._ The music slowed then went to back to regular tempo, coming to its climax in both tune and dance. They finished off the dance perfectly, and as Rinoa was pulled back towards the mysterious man after being spun out, they stopped dancing and stared at each other, both amused by the stranger's antics, everyone else continuing to dance.

Fireworks interrupted them, and both looked up at the lighted sky in surprise. While he continued to stare at the fireworks, it now changing from green to red, Rinoa took the time to look at him more closely, trying to figure him out. Just then she recognized someone behind him, and decided it was time to leave. Rinoa raised her hands up to her face as if praying to excuse herself, and walked toward Headmaster Cid and the people surrounding him, leaving the man with nothing to do but stare after her.


	3. Long Awaited Meeting with Headmaster Cid

[Aha, thanks a lot trekken and DesAngels. I've actually been thinking about how I was going to do the part where Rinoa's in a comatose state, but I think I've come up with something that might work and could be quite interesting! We'll see, ne?]

"Please, have a seat," Cid said. Rinoa and Cid now stood in his spacious open office that was down the hall from the ballroom hall. Two funky-dressed guards stood at either side of the room, and Rinoa wondered if they got paid enough to wear such clothing. As Cid walked around his desk to sit down, Rinoa followed after him, standing in front of his desk.

"I rather stand, thank you," Rinoa said. She was too excited to sit down, and knew she would be fidgety if she sat down. She never expected to actually be standing right in his office. Rinoa was so close to getting her hands on some SeeD's.

"Suit yourself. Now…" Cid started, settling down comfortably in his chair, "I do believe Seifer has mentioned you before. He said you needed some sort of help. What can I do for you, Miss Heartilly?"

"Rinoa, please," she said, smiling. She never knew Seifer talked about her to his Headmaster. It made up for him not being around tonight. "Well, as you know, Timber has been controlled by Galbadia for some time. This is affecting the city and its people very deeply. Travelers who come only stay for a short time because the violent Galbadian soldiers disturb the public order of the town. These people _kill_, sir. There are many resistance factions in Timber that are trying to liberate the city, and I myself am part of one called the Forest Owls. We need SeeD's help but we do not have the funding. In fact, none of the resistance factions do, and we're the most active one. This causes the city being stuck in the same loop for we haven't the external power to destroy it."

"Are you a resident of Timber, Rinoa?" Cid asked thoughtfully.

"Um…no," Rinoa said, hoping that wasn't a real problem. "I visited Timber two years ago, and I eventually joined the Forest Owls because I felt I needed to do something about Timber being under martial law. I spent a lot of time at Timber, and I got to know many people involved in the resistance. I wanted to help. No one should have to live in such conditions, Mr. Kramer."

Cid put his elbows on his desk and leaned forward, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on it. He was silent for some time, and Rinoa thought that maybe she hadn't gotten through to him. "Miss Heartilly…Rinoa," Cid said, "I'm impressed by your heartfelt dedication and intentions to free Timber, even though you are not a born resident of the city. Any other person would have just forgotten about it and leave its problems to its people, but you took a stand."

Rinoa smiled brightly, clasping her own hands and bringing them up to her chest hopefully.

"I completely support your resistance, and I give the go ahead for liberating Timber immediately," Cid said, smiled widely as well as she opened a drawer and began writing up a contract. "I'm going to even give you a nice discounted price. How does that sound?"

Rinoa screamed in delight and had to refrain from going around and hugging the man tightly, thinking that wouldn't be too professional and might change the man's mind. She simply contented herself to going up and down on the balls of her feet. "You can't begin to comprehend the joy I'm feeling, Mr. Kramer."

"Cid, please," Cid said, and handed the contract over to her. "Just sign this and you shall have your SeeD team."

"Thank you!" Rinoa took the contract and began reading, but soon developed a confused look on her face. "Um…Cid…I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I figured as much…" Cid trailed off, finishing writing on a second piece of paper. "So I've written a different one. Here."

Rinoa smiled and took a look at the new one he had devised. It was much easier to understand, and was happy to note that she had the SeeD's until Timber was completely independent. There was no stopping them now. Taking out a pen from her purse, Rinoa signed the contract. "Do I pay now?"

"You brought that kind of money with you?" Cid inquired, though of course he would have accepted payment now.

"I was really hoping that this moment would happen. I was prepared," Rinoa said coyly, and handed him almost all the money she had with her, that in total came around 15, 000 Gold, which was at least a quarter, if not more, of the total amount of money the Forest Owls even had. It was barely even close to what she was sure the real amount for SeeD's were, which she was thinking was around at least 100, 000 Gold.

"Oh, as well," Rinoa added, "When you send your people, someone will be waiting at Timber station. The person will say, 'The forest of Timber sure have changed'. The password is, 'But the owls are still around.' We…don't want to pick up any spies or anything, you know?"

Cid laughed and took the gold. "Alright, we'll relay the information accordingly. We'll be sending SeeD's as soon as we can. Well, if that's all the business matters for tonight, I think I'm going to head back to the party. May I escort you back?"

Rinoa shook her head, putting both contracts into her purse. "I have to go now. Gotta start getting prepared, you know? Lots of planning and work to do. But thank you anyway."

Cid nodded and walked around his desk again, walking Rinoa out of his office, though was stopped by the doorway when Rinoa threw her arms around him in a hug, throwing away her earlier thought that it wouldn't be professional. She didn't care.

Cid chuckled and patted her on the back. "I wish you all the luck, Rinoa. Have a nice night."

"You, too, Cid. Good night," Rinoa said, and waved to him as he went back towards the party, and she stood waiting for the elevator. Making her way out of Garden, Rinoa wondered if she should have called for a transport back to Balamb, and was thinking of going back in to do so when she saw Zone leaning against a car by the Front Gates.

"You're late," Zone teased, opening the door for her.

"You're early," Rinoa retorted, but smiled and got inside, Zone going in after her.

"So how did it go?" Watts asked from the driver's seat, turning on the ignition and pulling the car out of the driveway and onto the road back to the town.

"Great! I knew that talking to Cid directly would work! We should be getting SeeD's soon!" Rinoa exclaimed happily, and Zone and Watts laughed in surprise.

"Well I'll be a chocobo's uncle," Zone said. "So, what's on the agenda now?"

"As soon as we head back to the train, we'll have to plan for the mission to kidnap the President immediately. The presentation, the steps, everything," Rinoa said, rubbing her eyes. It looked like it was going to be a long night, and she wouldn't be waking up from her sleep till late tomorrow. "Where's Angelo?"

"We brought her back to the train before we came to pick you up," Watts answered as they pulled into the town and parked the car at the car rental, which was right by the entrance.

Walking out of the car and towards the train station, the three discussed what exactly they had to do concerning the carrying out of the mission. Coming to a stop at the base of the stairs to the train station, Rinoa clapped her hands together.

"Great, then all we need is to do the model and we're set!" Rinoa said, facing the two.

"Actually," Watts started, "We bought most of the supplies at the gift store while we were touring the town."

"Oh…" Rinoa said a little sadly. She wanted to be a part of that. "Well, then, I'm making the President's car personally. No excuses!" She headed up the stairs, leaving Zone and Watts to look at each other silently then trail on up after her.

Boarding the train, Rinoa yawned and stretched. "I'm going to get changed then get started. I guess there's nothing else for you two to do. You guys can go to sleep if you wish. Angelo will keep me company."

"Don't stay up too late," Zone said, hugging her goodnight, then walking off to his room.

"Yeah, can't wait to see the finished product in the morning." Watts nodded and followed after Zone; they shared the same room.

Smiling at their retreating backs, Rinoa whistled softly and soon enough Angelo came running from her room. Kneeling down, Rinoa allowed Angelo to lick her this time, though she wasn't sure what she was so worried about before; she wasn't wearing much make up to begin with. "You have a good time, girl?" Rinoa asked as she went to her room and changed.

Exiting the room in her regular clothing, Rinoa rubbed the side of her head to keep her awake long enough to even get to the strategy room and get started. Taking out a plain miniature train and some paint, Rinoa sat down and began. "You know what?" Rinoa said to Angelo as she worked, talking aloud to also sustain her state of consciousness. "I met the strangest guy at that party. He actually looked pretty cute, even with that odd slash across his face…makes him seem more endearing, you know?"

Rinoa laughed and shook her head, yawning once again. Why she was discussing this at all, let alone to her dog, was beyond her. "I think he had something against me. How can he dance so flawlessly at the end of the song but acted like he had two left feet in the beginning of it? Such a dramatic change, don't you think? Maybe I caught him off guard with my impeccable personality." She laughed at that thought, too, adding some more parts to the train. She wasn't an egocentric person at all. She just really hoped the guy didn't hate her…she couldn't stand people disliking her, even though she was intent on speaking her mind without reservation, which would sure close the deal of _everyone _surely liking her.

Feeling herself loosing the battle to stay vigilant, Rinoa took a look at the finished product. Whether it was her aim to make it look so horrid, or because she was just really out of it, Rinoa wasn't too sure herself. "Well…I can always make a justification if someone has the nerve to question it," Rinoa said, then stood up. She was completely tuckered out. "Come on, girl, let's go sleep."

Sauntering back to her room with Angelo in tow, Rinoa collapsed on her fluffy bed and instantly fell asleep.


	4. Capture the President

[I was worried about the previous chapter, I was stuck with it for a little while. But good to hear it worked out okay! I'm anxious about this chapter, too. It was sort of a boring scene where they just explained, going on and on. I broke it up and added as much as I could to make it half-engaging. Not sure if it worked, though…

Hee, yay, my very own cookie! :takes Saiph's cookie: Thankies! Lol, that's okay, I'm strange, too. It's all good!]

"Hey, Zone, we're here."

It was early the following morning, and Zone and Watts were awake. They had just completed a simulation of the upcoming mission, and with a timed watch, it came to 3 minutes. Which was good, for they only had 5. Adorned with a mini microphone clip and a hearing piece, Watts was ready to begin the early portion of the operation. They had just reached Timber, but Rinoa was still fast asleep.

"Hmm…well, there's no use waking her up before it's time," Zone said.

"I ain't waking her up even if it _is_ time," Watts interjected.

"I guess you'll just wait in Timber until the SeeD's arrive. If they give the correct password, call us up and we'll pull in immediately. Till then, you're stationed in Timber. We'll be out on the rails until further notice."

Watts nodded and made his way off the train. "Man, I could be waiting here forever."

Zone laughed. "Yeah, probably. Later." Zone closed the door, and the train pulled away.

"Hey! That's not funny!" Watts yelled, though he knew they couldn't hear him over the train's noise. Though many trains came in and out of Timber, lucky for Watts, he didn't have to wait very long until the one carrying the SeeD's finally arrived. It was almost the noon hour when a train came in and a group of three people stepped off and made their way towards him.

"Oh, the forests of Timber sure has changed!" Watts said. This was his fourth time saying it. People were beginning to think he had lost his mind.

The tallest man, seemingly the leader of the group, spoke up. "But the Owls are still around."

Taking his eyes off the scar on the man's face, Watts beamed brightly, thinking that the man had to be hardcore to get such a injury, and hoped he wouldn't be maimed. "Welcome to Timber, sir. Come with me, sir." Watts made his way to the next platform, speaking into the mic he was given earlier. "They're here, Zone. Come pick us up."

"Roger. We'll be there in under 2 minutes."

Looking behind him to make sure they were following, Zone walked up the steps and down the end of the platform. "Please, please, this way, sir!"

Sure enough, the locomotive arrived, and the four of them go into the Forest Owls' Base. Zone was already there in the room waiting for them. "So, you guys are SeeD's?" He asked. He somewhat expected them to be in uniform, and not in civilian clothing.

"I'm the squad leader, Squall. This is Zell, and Selphie," the scarred man named Squall said rather bluntly.

"Nice to meet ya. I'm the leader of the Forest Owls," Zone said.

"So, let's get on with it," Squall said, looking around the train, already losing his patience. "What do we do?"

Zone looked at him oddly. _They sure do go straight to business. They don't even know who they're working for! _"Just take it easy. Here, let my introduce you. Looks like you already met Watts." Zone nodded over at Watts, who waved. "I guess it's just our princess, then."

"It's the princess' nap time, sir," Watts said, figuring if she wasn't up already, she was surely still asleep. She still was the day before, and the day before that. Seemed like sleeping in was her habit, and no one was brave enough to wake her, anyway.

Zone felt a stomachache coming on, and squatted down, clutching his stomach. _Aw, man, off to a bad start._ "Ahh, man…" Zone looked up at Squall. "Hey Squall, sorry, but could you go get the princess? She's in the last room, up those stairs. Some of our other guys are in the room on the way. Ask'em if you get lost."

Squall looked at him in disbelief. "…Were we hired to run errands?" Squall asked somewhat angrily. "Well?"

__

Definitely a bad start! "A-are you angry?!" Zone asked. It looked like he found someone else that made him afraid just as much as Rinoa did.

Squall was silent for some time, probably thinking to himself. "This is the last time for this kinda thing."

Zone merely cried out in pain, and a frustrated Squall went up the stairs and into the last room.

The train screeching to a halt to pick up the SeeD's had woken Rinoa up, and as she finally pulled herself up into a sitting position, she found the stranger from the night before in her room. A nice surprise from just waking up, and she wondered how long he'd be standing there. "Hey…You're…!" Rinoa trailed off. She never did catch his name. "You know, from the party…So…does that mean…You're a SeeD!?"

"I'm Squall, the squad leader. There's 2 others with me."

Overly excited, Rinoa jumped up and hugged Squall tightly, almost causing them both to fall right over. "YEEESSSS! SeeD is here!"

"Take it easy," Squall said uncomfortably, pulling the girl off him.

Having her feet properly planted back on the floor, Rinoa looked at Squall ecstatically, offering a handshake, which Squall returns. "It's just that, I'm so happy! I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing…" Thinking about how she was able to speak to Cid, Rinoa continued. "I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!"

"Oh…So you were looking for the headmaster at the party?"

"You know Seifer?"

"…Yeah."

"Well, he's the one who introduced me to Cid. Cid is such a nice man. I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us. But after explaining out situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away! Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

"Uh…"

"Yes?"

"I'm goin' back to the others."

"Ok, let's go." Rinoa nodded, and began walking out with him. "Umm, Squall. Is 'he' here?" Squall didn't reply, and Rinoa became more specific. "Seifer."

After an even longer time, Squall spoke. "…..No. He's not a SeeD."

"…Oh," Rinoa said, feeling let down. She walked over to her dresser, but then takes a couple steps towards Squall again. "Oh yeah, my name's Rinoa. Very pleased to meet you Squall." With the introductions over, Rinoa decided to comment about the previous night. "SeeD members dance quite well, don't they?"

Squall brushes it off as part of work, and Rinoa felt let down once again. _So you were doing it to me on purpose._ "Ohh…So it's work related. That's too bad…" _You should learn to dance because you want to, not cause you have to._

Noticing him staring at Angelo, who walked into the bedroom from her closet, Rinoa smiled and kneeled down her. "Here, let me introduce you. This is my partner Angelo," Rinoa said, talking as if Angelo was a person. She wondered if Squall liked dogs. Angelo didn't seem to want to bite his foot clear off his ankle, and that was always a good sign. "Angelo is really smart! Here, let me tell you…"

Rinoa went on for quite a while describing all the things Angelo was able to do. "Smart, huh?" Rinoa cried out, then spoke to Angelo. "I have some important work to do now. Be good, Angelo."

Rinoa then stood up, and the two went back to the main car.

"This is Zell…" Squall said, introducing her to the blonde man, "…And Selphie." Squall motioned over to the brunette.

Rinoa smiled brightly and nodded at each of them. "Hi everyone! This way." Rinoa led the way to the strategy room, and once everyone was inside, Zone took charge.

"Just stand anywhere you want. This is a full-scale operation. Our resistance, 'The Forest Owls', will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence! Exciting, huh? It all started when we got a hold of top-secret info from Galbadia."

"I got the info, sir," Watts said, wanting to at least get credit, especially in front of the SeeD's.

"There's a VIP from Galbadia coming to Timber," Zone continued, brushing off Watts' interruption.

"Super V-I-P!!!" Watts said, and Rinoa hit her forehead. She loved the guy to pieces, really she did, but she felt if he continued with his random comments the SeeD's would really just up and leave.

"The guy's name is Vinzer Deling! Our archenemy, and the President of Galbadia," Zone proceeded, neglecting to take notice of Watts words, though not knowing that if he did, Watts would stop. So Watts rambled on yet again.

"Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel!!! He's a dictator, not a president. Not even popular in Galbadia, sir!"

Having enough, Rinoa finally spoke up rather strongly to give Watts the message. This was _not_ what they were rehearsing yesterday. "President Deling is taking a private train from the Galbadian capital."

Letting out a sigh of relief for Rinoa cutting in, Zone happily went on. "Our plan is to…"

But if it wasn't Watts that would be causing delays, it just had to be someone else. "…Blow it to smithereens with a rocker launcher!?" The girl in the yellow dress, Selphie, said.

"Ah…" Zone said, not sure of how to take the girl's hostile look at dealing with the situation. "Not quite…"

"So get to the point!" Zell yelled. "Just tell us what to do!"

Rinoa rolled her eyes, this time angry at the SeeD's. She found them all unimpressed by their efforts, which now looked like disorganization due to all the interferences, and they spent so long planning this. "Shall we begin?" Rinoa said, going on as if unaffected by their attitudes. Everyone turned their attention to the model that was laid out on the table.

"First, I'll go over the model. The yellow train on the top right is our 'base'. We're riding in it right now. Right next to it is the 'dummy car'. We made it to look just like the president's car." Pointing over to the next train on the other track, Rinoa carried on.

"Their train has three cars. First there's the 'locomotive' followed by the '1st escort'. The red car is the 'president's car'. Deling should be inside. The last car is the '2nd escort'." Rinoa pointed to each car as she mentioned them.

"Once we get on this one, we begin the operation. Our ultimate goal is to seize the president in his car using our 'base'. That means, we'll have to switch our 'dummy car' with their 'president's car'. We'll use the 2 switch points leading up to Timber to carry out this operation." Rinoa started up the model, and the trains began ascending, the said cars coming across the switch points, showing the switch take place.

"Ok, now I'm going to explain the procedures in seven steps. We'll get on the roof of the '2nd escort' by jumping from our 'dummy car'."

"The '2nd escort' car is the only one that is equipped with sensors, sir," Watts said uncertainly, hoping Rinoa didn't mind him saying so.

"A high tech officer is onboard. I'll talk about the sensors later," Rinoa said, saying wordlessly to Watts that it wasn't necessary, but wasn't going to have a fit over it. "We can move across the roof of the 'president's car' without worrying too much."

"Deling hates the company of his guards and being surrounded by sensors, and keeps them away from his car," Zone said, clearing up the reason why they wouldn't have any trouble so none of them would take up time asking why.

"We have to complete the uncoupling before the 1st switch point. If we don't..." Rinoa trailed off, the ending obvious to anyone who wasn't insane or under the influence of something.

"BOOM! ...Game over, right?" Selphie said, using her hands to exaggerate the explosion.

"…Yeah," Rinoa said slowly, completely overtaken by how much Selphie loved to blow things up. _Is it really normal for someone to have such affection to detonations?_ "So we'll have to move fast. I'll explain the uncoupling process later," Rinoa said, adding that to the growing list of things she had to explain.

"After the car is uncoupled..." Rinoa lost her train of thought with the many times that they had to stop. "We'll have the 'dummy car' and our 'base' move in. At this point, our train and their train will be linked and be moving together." The model trains started to move again as Rinoa started it up, and after the first switch point, the cars were indeed all hooked and moving as one.

"This is the last uncoupling. The process will probably be similar to the last one. If all goes well, we should be able to escape with the 'president's car'. After that, we'll return to our base and prepare to confront Deling. We have exactly 5 minutes to complete the 7 procedures. If we fail, our train will collide with theirs at the switch point and it'll be over. Don't forget that."

"5 minutes…?" Zell repeated, still unsure about the time limit. "You sure that's enough?"

"According to the simulation that we ran, it should take only 3 minutes to complete the operation. Piece of cake for SeeDs, right?" Zone said, almost as if saying that they didn't complete it under that time, they weren't much better than plastic models, and wasn't worth the money, especially with the way they've been acting. Though, of course, if that did indeed happen, they would all be waiting to be scraped up from the railroad tracks this time tomorrow.

"Of course! Too easy!" Selphie said confidently, probably catching on to what Zone really wanted to say.

Rinoa looked over at Squall, who hadn't actually said anything the entire time. "Ok, now let's talk about how to avoid the sensors on the '2nd escort'." Rinoa glanced over at Watts, finally his turn to speak. "……Go ahead, Watts."

Clearing his throat, Watts talked cheerfully, glad he was able to talk without being out of turn. "The guards have a 'sound sensor' and a 'temperature sensor', sir. Any sound will trigger the 'sound sensor' so move across very quickly, sir! The blue guard is carrying this sensor. The 'temperature sensor' will go off if you remain stationary, sir! The guard in red is carrying this one, sir."

Using their own blinds in the room they stood in, Watts used them as his own props as he explained more. "When a guard opens the blind," Watts paused, opening the blind, "That means he is checking the sensor, so be careful! The range on these sensors is equal to the length of one window. So keep an eye on the window below, sir."

"…So exactly how do you avoid 'em?" Zell asked.

"Um…" Watts thought the fact that they were sound and temperature sensors, that what you had to do for each was self-explanatory. "Basically, run or stop, depending on which guard is below you."

"That's about it for the sensors," Rinoa said, hoping to relieve Watts of any nervousness he might have been feeling with the question. "Next, let's talk about how to uncouple the escort cars."

"Question...!" Selphie said, raising a hand. "How can you uncouple the cars from a moving train?"

"Umm…" Rinoa said. _If you just waited, it would have been explained._ "We can't uncouple the cars directly."

"Instead, we'll have to temper with the control system that manages the coupling. If we temporarily disable the circuit for the connection, the car will uncouple automatically. To disable it, we have to enter several codes," Zone voiced.

"...And we have the codes," Watts uttered. "Well…Rinoa has them, sir!"

"I'll be in charge of relaying the codes to Squall." Rinoa looked directly at Squall. If he wasn't going to pay attention to everything else, he best had to now. "Squall, you'll slide down on the side of the train using a cable and enter the codes into the system. Now, I need you to listen carefully. Each code is made up of numbers between 1-4 and has 4 digits: 2341 is an example. You have to be quick and precise. You'll have about 5 seconds to enter each code. Otherwise, the code will change and the past entries will become invalid. So like we said, we have to enter all the codes to disable the connections."

Rinoa returned her gaze to the rest of the group. "After we uncouple the cars, we'll wait for the others to operate the rail switch. Remember, we only have 5 minutes to do everything, so make sure that you're prepared. Ok, let's try practicing entering the code. Enter 3 codes and you'll be finished." Rinoa handed Squall a keypad that looked like the one he would be dealing with out on the mission.

After relaying to him various different number combinations, some of which he did get wrong, Squall felt himself prepared and handed the keypad back to her. "You got it?" Rinoa asked, taking it and placing it on the table. "In the real thing, there's a strict time limit leading up to the switch point. Don't forget that. Umm...that's all."

Delighted that the meeting was finally adjourned, most of the group stretched.

"By the way..." Selphie said, figuring now was the time to ask, "This model's nice but the president's car looks kinda shabby.....Why is that?"

Rinoa froze. She had hoped no one would bring it up.

"Yeah, Rinoa made it. That's why. We bought everything else at the gift store," Watts answered.

"Oh…" Zell said, noticing it too. "I thought some kid made it. The paint job sucks, too."

"Oh, shut up!" Rinoa shouted, quickly thinking up a reason for it. She wasn't going to admit she stayed up late at night making it if that was how they were going to be like. "I made it look like that on purpose. It represents my hatred towards Deling."

"Hatred, eh...? Yeah...right." Zell didn't believe her for a second.

"It's one of the...ugliest things that I've ever seen in my life," Selphie said, disgusted. "You must really hate him."

Rinoa mouthed dropped in complete incredulity, and she looked at Squall, wondering if he was going to join in on bashing her as well. They certainly didn't learn manners at the school of theirs, or at least mild criticism. _Honestly! It isn't **that** bad! How rude could these people be? It's just a train! Don't you have more important things to be worrying about?_ "Are you guys finished!? Enough about the model! Can we get on with it now!? Do you understand?"

"Yes," Squall said simply.

Though he didn't say anything, Rinoa was sure he was agreeing with his teammates. He may have been cute, but that was all he had going for him as far as Rinoa was concerned at that moment. If he had something to say about it, he should have just said it. It wasn't stopping Zell or Selphie. Might as well trash her in her face then in his mind. "Let's decide on the party!" Rinoa said, still pissed off. She didn't want to be with any of them at just now.

"Gathering information is my specialty, sir!" Watts said. He didn't want to be near Rinoa when she was mad. Rinoa looked at him with skepticism.

"OuuuucHHHHH...... My stomach!" Zone said, squatting back down and holding onto his stomach. Rinoa knew he got stomachaches when he was nervous, but she wondered if he was faking it this time just to get out of it. Before she could say anything the train jerked harshly, signaling they were approaching the President's train.

"We're moving again..." Rinoa said distantly, looking up at the ceiling as if she could see through metal. "I'll go take a look. Talk to Watts when you're ready. The sooner the better." Still angry, Rinoa walked off and went outside onto the roof of the moving train.


	5. Their First Mission

[Thanks so much Merlraven and Lionheart1! Glad the story's making you feel better about your gaming withdraw, Lionheart! And here I thought people would think it was stupid to tell the story from someone else's point of view.]

The cool, fast-moving winds blew Rinoa's ebony and red-brown highlighted colored hair behind her as she kneeled down on the roof of the Forest Owls' base, the train of light blue duster flowing just as freely. Their train had left for Galbadia and was now following the route that the President's train was taking to Timber. Looking to her side, Rinoa could see the President's car through the numerous trees, it becoming nothing more than a blur of green. _We're maybe about…a couple minutes from getting a clear view of them. If they don't come up here soon we'll miss the chance to have a good jump._

Hearing footsteps behind her as if on cue, Rinoa turned her head to see Squall's group coming up on the roof as well. "Squall, over here!" Rinoa called them over to her end at the front of the train from where they were on the dummy car, and turned her head back to its original position. She was willing to forget about the incident inside for now; they had more important things to think about.

"We'll catch up with the 2nd escort soon. Let's get ready. We should time our jumps well after we catch up with them to save some time. From now we have exactly…" Rinoa trailed off, looking to her other side as if looking for some sort of marker. Passing by the first checkpoint, Rinoa continued. "5 minutes to complete the operation. Let's try to use every second."

The group nodded their approval, and Rinoa jumped onto the President's car, landing as lightly as she could. She made sure not to look down, for the image of a rapidly moving ground; so much so that it was as if there was no ground at all, wasn't exactly what she needed just then. _I don't get paid enough to do that…_ Rinoa thought somewhat helplessly. With everyone on board safely, Rinoa continued.

"This is the president's car. After we get across, we'll proceed with the first uncoupling."

Rinoa straightened slightly and walked down to the front end of the President's car and onto the first escort. When everyone was there, Rinoa gave out the instructions. "This is the 1st escort. We're gonna uncouple this first. Like Watts said, there should be 2 guards on this car." Rinoa looked over at Selphie and Zell. "Selphie and Zell, you guys keep an eye on the guards. Let us know if you see them coming."

Zell nodded. "Alright. I'll watch the blue guard."

"I'll take red," Selphie said. With that, Zell and Selphie took their positions.

Rinoa carefully looked over the edge and down at the windows, the wind whipping her hair past her eyes, then came back up and looked at Squall. "The red guard is closer. Squall, you might wanna keep an eye on him, too. Ok, are you ready to enter the codes? You remember everything, right?" She didn't want to pressure of everything to make him completely forget why they were there in the first place.

"Yeah," Squall said bluntly.

"We'll have to enter 3 codes to disable the circuit for this uncoupling. Ok, Squall. Get the cable ready. Ok, let's do it. We have 4 minutes left! Good luck Squall!"

Squall slid down to the control system, and looked up at Rinoa, signaling he was ready.

"4211!" Rinoa called down the first code to him. She watched anxiously as Squall punched it in, and was about to relay the next one when Zell called.

"Yo! Blue's on the move!"

Rinoa cringed as Zell said that. There were many factors that could happen and call the mission a failure: unable to complete the uncoupling before the switch points, typing in the wrong codes, and in this case, being caught by one of the guards. She didn't want to see them fail the operation, and so soon after they just started. _And after I just jumped from a moving train!_

Rinoa held her breath in nervous anticipation as Squall made his way back up the roof and squatted beside her, and not a moment too soon. Just as he did, the guard opened the blinds and took a look outside. As he closed the blinds, Rinoa, and seemingly everyone else, let out a deep sigh of relief. "Alright, go back down. We still have two more codes to enter!"

But Squall was already halfway down, and Rinoa smiled inwardly. _He is good._ "3421!" Rinoa yelled, feeling her words being carried away by the wind, toning down her yell to a light whisper. She paused for a second in case Selphie or Zell was going to warn them, but hearing nothing, Rinoa promptly told Squall the last code, it being '1324'. Having a slight delay because of the guard, they were running out of time fast. "Squall, this way!"

Selphie and Zell were already by Rinoa's side, and when Squall came back up, all four crouched down on the president's car and looked up ahead, where the first switch was rapidly approaching. They felt a tiny jolt as the first escort car uncoupled, moving farther in front of them, leaving a huge gap in between their two cars. At the switch point, the Forest Owls' Base, with the dummy car, gracefully pulled onto their track, closing the gap. The cars connected together with powerful magnetic energy, and now the once 4-carred train was now a 6-carred train, with the locomotive in the front, followed by the 1st escort, the Owls' base, the dummy car, the President's car and the 2nd escort, all moving as one.

"Go to the back of the train," Rinoa said to Squall. "I'll meet you there." Rinoa then looked over at Zell and Selphie as Squall went his separate way. "I need you two to uncouple our train from theirs." She moved in closer to Selphie and whispered the codes in her ear, and did the same to Zell, not wanting to yell over the noise anymore for she felt her throat beginning to hurt. "See you guys soon!"

With that, Rinoa made her way over to Squall, finding him looking at her awaiting orders. "This is the 2nd escort. After this, we're home free. I think there are 2 guards on this car, too. Zell and Selphie are up ahead, working on uncoupling our train from theirs. So you're on your own this time. Let's get this over with."

Squall nodded silently, a solemn expression on his face. "We'll have to enter 5 codes to disable the circuit for this connection. Are you ready, Squall? We have just over 2 and a half minutes left! Good luck!" Rinoa knew what he must have been feeling. It was hard enough when he had lookouts, and with 2 extra codes to enter in, it will be cutting it close. "Hey, don't worry." Rinoa smiled a little at him. "You'll do fine. Let's go."

Before Squall could slide down, the red guard had opened the blinds, and he had to stop himself. Imagine if he was already down there and that happened; staying or moving would have gotten him caught. With the coast clear, Squall finally slid down and Rinoa was able to convey three codes in a row before he had to come back up, saving them the time they lost earlier. Coming upon the last two minutes, they entered the last two codes.

"Squall, come on up! The switch point's drawing near!" Rinoa called down to him, and looked ahead to see Selphie and Zell standing upon the Base car, giving the thumbs up to her. Rinoa waved and gave the thumbs up as well, Squall and herself now standing upon the President's car once again. Behind them, the 2nd escort car detached itself from the President's car, and Base and dummy car uncoupled from each other, leaving the last four cars all separate from each other. They watched as they came upon the second switch point, where the locomotive, still attached to the 1st escort, changed onto the next track, the Owls' base staying where it was.

It was the dummy's car turn to shift lanes, leaving the President's car to connect to the base. The 2nd escort was the last of which to switch tracks, completing the transition. Rinoa didn't want to jump up in excitement and risk falling off the train, so the four, well, three, all gave each other high fives to an operation success. Squall was lacking in enthusiasm. "Let's get back inside before we're blown off this thing," Rinoa said, and they climbed down the ladder and entered the Forest Owls' Base.

"Are you guys alright?" Zone asked as came in and closed the door behind them. Rinoa nodded, and Zone rubbed his hand together. "Finally…We've waited so long for this encounter with Vinzer."

"Was that perfect, sir!? Amazing, sir! You're the best, sir!" Watts chirped, and Zone and Rinoa looked at each other, wondering who he was talking to.

"Well then…" Rinoa said, rubbing her hands down her sides, waiting for them to finally do it.

"Leave the intelligence up to me, sir!" Watts said, getting himself out of the situation once again.

"OwOwOuccchhh," Zone cried, gripping his stomach rather tightly. He ran into the other room, and faint sounds of him throwing up were heard. Rinoa shook her head. It looked like it was on her again.

"You 3!" Rinoa looked at the SeeD's. "Tell me when you're ready to go. As soon as you're ready, I'll begin 'serious negotiations' with the president!" With that, Rinoa paced back in forth in front of the door leading to the president's car, figuring out what she was going to say to him. The trio soon came up to her. "…Ready?" Rinoa asked them.

"Yeah," Squall said, and Rinoa pulled open the door and jumped onto the President's car.


	6. All For Nothing

[Eee, I tried my best with the battle scene. Hope its good! I wasn't sure I was going to do it at first since Rinoa wasn't participating, but what fun would that have been?]

It was rather dim inside the president's car, even with the lights that were on either side of the room. Seeing the President sitting in a booth, Rinoa closed her eyes and let out a breath before approaching him. _This is it, Rinoa. The moment everyone's been waiting for…the possible end to Timber's endless spiral of being Galbadia's puppets. You can do this!_

"…President Deling!" Rinoa called out, trying to sound strong. "As long as you…don't resist, you won't get hurt…" As much as Rinoa hated the man's guts, she didn't want to see him beaten up on her account. Violence never really solved anything.

"And if I do resist…What would you do…? Young lady?" The president said.

Rinoa took a step back and blinked, narrowing her eyes, looking at the man closely. She slowly felt something at the pit of her stomach that something was very wrong here. _That…doesn't sound like him!_

"What's wrong?" Squall asked her, and before Rinoa could comment on what she was feeling the fake president spoke again, answering his question for her.

"Boo-hoo... Too bad... I'm not the president. I'm what they call...a body double." Squall's group gasped, and Rinoa closed her eyes slowly and hung her head slightly. She was right. He wasn't the President at all. But then, where was the real President?

"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber... You pass along a little false information and they fall for it... How pathetic... Seems like there are only amateurs around here," the dummy president droned on.

Rinoa was completely speechless. How…how could they have gotten false information? "Ama…teurs…!?" Rinoa barely breathed out. It was like a knife to her heart right there. She and the Forest Owls have been carrying out plans for so long. Zone and Watts' fathers founded the Forest Owls before the invasion of Timber even took place. And Rinoa learnt many military strategies from her own father, probably the only thing she ever got from him. They had years of experience between them. And now this man sat before her and called her an amateur? _This…isn't possible!_ Rinoa screamed in her head.

"Ahh... My butt hurts from all this sitting... Young...LADY... Ahh... So what did you have in stORE for me had I resiSTED...? Why doN'T you teLL mE... QuiTE aMUsing thouGH... For beINg such amAtEurs...!!! HoW daRe YOU InSUlt tHe presIDent!!!"

Rinoa staggered backwards, cowering away as the fake president continued to taunt her. Rinoa tried to catch her breath so she could get oxygen to her brain and think clearly on how exactly this happened. She was still in an utter state of shock as her back touched the door and she slowly slid against it and sat on the ground, watching blankly as Squall's group braced themselves to fight the fake President.

"Yo! We're not really going to…kill this guy, are we?" Zell asked, though he knew it was stupid to do so. He had already gone into a fighting stance, his gloved fists up, cracked, and ready to beat the man into submission.

The metallic sound of a metal chain clanging together was heard as pulled out her Nunchaku and stretched the long weapon above her head, giggling in excitement. "Oh, Zell, you think too much."

The invisible air was cut in half as the sharp edge of Squall's gunblade sliced through the air. Checking the revolver for ammo, it slid back in place with a faint click and he gripped the handle hard. "It's either him or us. Let's go."

The fake president laughed, amused, and Zell ran in quickly, connecting his metal knuckles into the overweight man's ribcage with a couple of uppercuts. The man doubled over, and Zell pulled his hand back for a punch to the jaw when the man suddenly straightened up and opened his mouth wide, an unexpected burst of white blinding him, causing his punch to miss its mark greatly.

"What the hell!?" Zell yelled as he felt goosebumps rising on his skin, the freezing cold effects of the Blizzard spell cast only delaying him. As he rubbed his eyes to melt the ice that covered his vision, Zell was pushed back harshly with a punch from the man to his chest, and Zell waved his arms up and down to keep his balance. The attack wasn't very strong, and Zell shook his head to get back into the fight.

Selphie twirled her Nunchaku above her head like it was a lasso, ready to begin her assault after Zell had been attacked. With the fake president caught off guard while trying to charge for another spell, Selphie brought down her weapon across his face with amazing force for such a girl, causing extreme whiplash to the man as he spun rapidly due to the power and dropped to the ground heavily. Smirking, Selphie grabbed the other end of her weapon as if came back around. "This guy isn't very hard to beat! Not even putting up a real fight!" 

Squall's boots made no sound on the carpet as he slowly made his way to the man, who was slowly coming to his knees in an attempt to stand back up, still thinking he could really defeat them. "So let's finish this," Squall said in a low voice, the tip of his blade shining in the light as it rested upon his right shoulder. Looking down at the man, Squall hesitated. To kill a man in cold blood…that was what he was trained for. And it wouldn't have been the first time he had done it, either. But it never did get easier.

Without warning, Squall raised the duel-weapon and cut into the man easily, dragging the weapon through the man's skin, disfiguring the body from left shoulder to right hip in a giant slash. As if the inch-deep cut wasn't enough to butcher the man, Squall was able to time it perfectly, and his eyes flinched slightly as he pulled the trigger, the bullet unknowingly piercing the right lung, it soon filling up with blood instead of oxygen.

Pulling the sharp edged metal from its deep crevasse, Squall held it by his side, the tip no longer shining but dripping in crimson liquid, causing a puddle to develop where it hit the carpet. The man gargled, failing to supply his body with essential oxygen, slumped back onto the floor. Figuring it was over, the three began to turn around when the body suddenly began to shine and exploded with a blinding light.

"What the...?" Squall said, raising an arm to block the rays, and their eyes widened at the sight that was unfolding before them. It was like an out-of-body experience, watching the monster Gerogero come out of the man's skin as if it was some cheap plastic body suit used and being discarded after a Halloween party.

"Awww, man! I knew that was too easy!" Zell moaned, looking at the undead fiend.

Before the SeeD's were able to start the assault on their real target, Gerogero let out Dark Mist Breath to each person, putting them under a fixture of status ailments, specifically being Poison and Darkness. In Zell's case, he had the misfortune of being confused as well.

"Ahh! I can't see!" Selphie yelled, rubbing her eyes frantically but never being able to rid herself of the black cloud that loomed around her head. But her movements allowed the poison to course through her body, and she recoiled at the sensation of it.

Zell, confused, ran up to Squall and laid a strong punch to his jawbone, which unluckily for Squall, hit its mark this time around. He then flinched as the poison passed through his system as well.

"Zell?! Watch who you're hitting!" Squall let out an irritated groan, massaging his jaw with his hand. Here he was feeling slightly bad about killing the man when he suddenly decided to turn into a stronger beast. Deciding to ignore his blind condition, Squall rushed the fiend.

His gunblade did come in contact of something, but it was nothing more than the stuffed booth chair that the fake president had been sitting in. He, too, cringed as the poison made its way around his body. Thinking he had really hit the fiend, Squall, Zell and Selphie, were hit with Gerogero's Arm Bang, flinging them across the room and onto their backs, putting them all in at the verge of critical conditions.

"Ugh…I don't feel so good…" Selphie moaned, slowly sitting up as to not allow the poison to move rapidly. They had to finish the monster in one hit before _it_ had the chance to finish them off. Reaching into her back dress pocket, Selphie threw a Remedy at Squall.

"Use Scan!" Selphie yelled, then slumped to the floor. That action put her over the edge and into a dangerous state. Squall blinked, relieved he could finally see again, then got to his feet. He was catching onto Selphie's train of thought. Bringing a closed hand to his face, Squall concentrated, letting the magic build up inside him.

Reaching its peak, Squall moved his hand towards Gerogero, opening it to show his palm at it as small lights flew, circling around his outstretched arm and outwards to where he was pointing.

"Scan!" Squall yelled, and soon enough information flooded his mind. Shifting through the information to find what he was looking for, he found it was weak to fire. "Zell! You gotta summon Ifrit!" Squall commanded.

"Dude…I feel like shit." Now free from Confuse for he was struck by the fiend, Zell nodded that he had heard him, and jumped onto his feet, ignoring the searing pain once again. "You…are goin' down!" Zell said in a calm, demonic voice. Zell began to shake, feeling the burning hot power rise up from within him. He punched forward and instantly was engulfed in the image of a raging fire, and all three were no where to be seen.

"Where…where did they go?" Rinoa whispered to herself. She had entirely blocked out the first battle, wanting to throw up herself after seeing the SeeDs slay a human being. But she soon snapped out of it when Gerogero appeared, and she could now feeling her heart beating against its small cage inside her. She was froze to her spot in utter fear, and felt bad that she couldn't assist them in anyway when they got into trouble.

Her answer was soon violently revealed as a pillar of red flames shot up, and Rinoa let out a scream as it shook the car. It threw the roof clear off its place, which was comfortably sitting atop the four surrounding walls, threatening to blow it up whole as the eerie flamed appeared from out of nowhere. A gigantic claw shot from the pit the flames had created, and then a second emerged, pulling itself out like it was coming from the depths of Hell.

The guardian force snorted out fire from its nostrils as it roared, its entire being smoldering with scorching heat. Punching into the ground, it left a massive hole right through the metal of the floor.

And there stood Ifrit, the Fire Beast, in all its devastating glory.

Though performing Hell Fire would have surely decapitated both cars of the still moving train and all its inhabitants, Ifrit did not have to use that attack. Gerogero mindless struck at the creature, and was promptly enveloped in the burning hot flames inside out destroying it on contact.

With the fiend gone, Ifrit's job was done. The three SeeDs reappeared, disappearing due to Ifrit's protection barrier. Looking around, the GF's desolation was apparent, with the roof now gone and smoke rising from fiery debris that lay randomly around what was left of the room.

"Hee! We won!" Selphie cheered, throwing her leg back and creating a 'Z' shape with her weapon.

Squall brushed himself off and noticed Rinoa was still sitting by the door that led to their base, and as they came to help her stand, Rinoa stood on her own, anger now fueling her and bringing her out of her previous daze.

"Let's…go back…to the strategy room," Rinoa said, not wanting to discuss what just happened. It was a bit too much to handle at the moment.

As the quartet boarded the Owls' Base again, Zone came up to them, Watts inside the control room listening to the radio with the other members of the group, where he was getting information from different informants back in Timber.

"Hey, back so soon? We felt a jagged bump a while ago, but it didn't veer us off the tracks. How'd it go?" Zone asked optimistically.

Rinoa put her palms on the table and leaned against it hard, pressing on it. She closed her eyes tightly and spoke bitterly. "It wasn't him, Zone. It was a monster, a decoy. We had false information."

"Man, I can't believe the president was fake!" Zone kicked the metal wall.

"I can't believe we fell for it!" Rinoa shouted, making a fist with one of her hands and pounding it on the table in frustration before squatting down and hanging her head. She felt like greatly disappointed not only them, but also all of the resistance people in Timber.

Just then Watts ran into the room. "Info, sit! New info! It's big news! I found out the real reason why the president's here, sir! The president's going to the TV Station! Security's super tight, sir!"

Rinoa slowly lifted her head and looked over at Watts. "…The TV Station? Why in Timber? They can broadcast just as easily from Galbadia." She didn't want to be caught in another rumor.

"Do you think the Dollet communication tower has anything to do with this?" Selphie asked questionably, looking at Zell and Squall.

"What's that?" Zone said, curious.

"Dollet has a communication tower that can transmit and receive radio waves. It had been abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadian Army got it up and running yesterday," Squall explained.

"Ohhhh…I get it…" Zone said, nodding his head over at Rinoa and Watts so they could follow. "The only TV station that can handle broadcasts over the air is in Timber. Other stations use HD cable, which only supports online broadcasting."

Rinoa raised an eyebrow and stood up, crossing her arms. What they were saying wasn't making much sense. What did that have to do with anything? "So, what's that supposed to mean?"

"They're planning on using radio waves. This way, they can transmit images to regions without cable," Zone said in lamest terms.

"I know that…!" Rinoa trailed off. They acted like she didn't know anything. She did know that…right? _Well, I do now._ "What I want to know is, what is the president going to broadcast!? Why use radio waves? There must be something they want to say to the whole world. What can it be?"

"Everybody! Love! And Peace!" Selphie chanted, throwing her arms up in the air. The girl was like a walking contradiction. She vouched for love and peace yet loved to blow things into pieces. How that worked was only clear to the green-eyed brunette.

"If I remember correctly, radio waves haven't been used in 17 years," Zone commented.

"It's been that long?" Rinoa asked, then sighed almost happily, going dream mode.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if the first broadcast could be the declaration of Timber's independence!?"

"Hey!" Zone cried, smiling. "That might be possible."

Rinoa giggled and smiled as well. She was feeling better already. "Let's come up with a plan, then!" She turned to the SeeD's. Can you guys give us a minute?" With that, Zone, Watts and Rinoa huddled together in a squatting position.

"It sounds like you've got something on your mind already, Rinoa," Zone said.

"Heh. Well, it's not much, but we could storm the place, you know? Before they have a chance to say whatever they wanted to say! Then we could do our own broadcast! Declare Timber's freedom! Take down the President and his guards while we're on the air! That'll show 'em!"

"That doesn't sound too bad. We can go with it!" Zone said.

"The TV Station, sir!? It's quite close if you take the local train... But the local and transcontinental trains have stopped running, sir... Nothing to worry about, sir! There must be someone in town who knows." Watts then nodded in agreement.

Squall tapped Rinoa on the shoulder and she craned her head to look up at him.

"Oh, good timing! We've come up with a plan!" Rinoa said, the three of them standing up.

"Before we get into that, can I see your contract with our Garden?" Squall asked, holding out his hand.

"Oh, sure," Rinoa said, walking to the back of the room and handing him the first contract Cid had made.

"What's it say?" Zell asked, and Rinoa crossed her arms once again. Were these people trying to get out of their assignment? So they made one mistake. People made mistakes.

"…SeeD (hereafter referred to as 'Party C' shall be dispatched upon signing of this contract. Party C shall operate under the supervision…" Squall had the same confused look on his face that Rinoa did when she first read it as well.

"…The hell……?" Zell said.

"I don't get it," Selphie voiced.

"Oh yeah, that one's pretty confusing. When I told him I didn't understand, he gave me a different one." Rinoa gave Squall the second contract. "Cid is such a nice man."

"What's it say this time?" Selphie asked, walking over to his side to read off the paper. Squall was silent for some time, reading it first himself before reading it aloud.

"Until Timber's independence!?" Zell yelled in disbelief.

"That is sooo vague!" Selphie said.

Rinoa kept in a laugh. _You people won't be going anywhere until we finish what Galbadia started._ "Hey, you're paid professionals. No complaining! Ok, let's decide on the parties!"

"Gathering information is my specialty, sir!" Watts was using it as an excuse again. Even it that was he position in the Forest Owls.

"OuuuucHHHHH...... My stomach!" Zone yelled in pain, clutching his stomach once again.

Rinoa rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. _Why do I even bother asking?_ "So, of the 4 of us, the ones who'll be heading to the TV Station will be…" Rinoa looked over at Squall, awaiting his answer. Squall nodded over at Zell.

"Best of luck, sir! I'll be keeping watch here!" Watts said.

"So it'll be Squall, Zell and me, huh?" Rinoa said, then walked over to the door, looking out the small window.

"We should be entering Timber soon."


	7. Not One of Us

[Sorry, late chapter. I couldn't find the right words to describe what Rinoa was thinking during one of the paragraphs so I finally gave up. Anywhoo, it's okay Lionheart! Lol, yeah, those fights in the game leave much to the imagination. Though I don't think I have that quite of the imagination to do the battles right…as the battle in this chapter will very closely show…! Eeek, enjoy nevertheless.]

Finally arriving back in Timber, Rinoa, Squall, Zell, and Watts exited the train, and Rinoa turned to say goodbye to Watts before they left. "You…be careful, ok?" Rinoa said a bit worriedly.

"Ah, don't worry about me! You're the one we should be worrying about. Lots of guards are patrolling the city now! Please be careful, sir! Seems like the hotel's not available, either! Should you need to recover, use the Owl's Tear, sir! Heard it works wonders!" Watts passed the item to Squall.

Zone appeared at the door now. "WaaaaaaTTTS! C'MON! The Galbadian soldiers are comin'!!!" The locomotive began leaving the station, but Watts stood their talking to them, not noticing at all as the train abandoned him. "I guess you won't be needing it anyway. You're all SeeD's, well, except for Rinoa. You'll be fine, right, sir!?"

Rinoa opened her mouth, but finding no words to convey the situation, both funny yet serious at the same time, Rinoa merely pointed at the far away train, Zone still at the door yelling at him, and Selphie was now seen by his side, waving at them. "Hey...!!!? Don't leave me, sirrrr!" Watts cried, and chased after the faraway train.

Rinoa giggled, and waved at his fleeing back._ I hope you catch the train, Watts._ Turning back to face Squall and Zell, they started walking around Timber for an entryway to the TV Station.

"Hey, what is with that guy?" Zell asked as they walked. "And Zone said he was the leader. I thought you were."

Rinoa shook her head, and she blinked away the hair that got into her eyes from doing so. She cast her eyes at the people who stood in the streets as they walked, looking for anyone suspicious. "Their father's founded the Forest Owls a long time ago, before Timber was even in the mess it's in now. But…after Galbadia took over Timber…they were hunted down and executed for fighting against the Galbadian Army, along with other resistance members."

Rinoa talked in a low voice in case anybody was to eavesdrop, and Rinoa paused for a moment of silence as her pay in respects to the fallen people who gave their lives for the city. She hoped, along with Zone and Watts, to finally make their dreams come true. "Zone and Watts tried to…no, are, continuing their fathers' work, even though they are lacking the bravado their fathers had."

She smiled. Zone and Watts were like her big brothers. "Still, I think they're doing a pretty good job considering. They may seem a bit odd, but that's what I sorta like about them. They're not afraid to be bizarre, you know?" _Though I'm sure you two would think otherwise._

As they passed the hotel, Rinoa grabbed Squall's hand to stop them from moving on. "Hey, hold on a sec. I'm gonna go inside, see if they know the way to the station." The two SeeD's looked at each other, and followed wordlessly. It beat wondering the town for hours looking for it.

Upon entering the lavish hotel, the attendant at the front counter made a sour face. The way to the dinning hall was shut down, and a couple people still stood in the front room, desperately trying to get a room.

"We don't have any more rooms! We're closed!" The man yelled at them, and Rinoa narrowed her eyes at him, walking up to the desk. She laid her arms atop it and cocked her head to the side. "Don't have a chocobo. We're not here for one of your silly, expensive rooms," Rinoa said, and smiled at the look she was granted by doing so. "We're just wondering if you know they way to the TV Station?"

Straightening out the front of his suit of invisible creases and wrinkles, and man replied, though you could easily tell his dignity was hurt. "Look for the pub. Make your way to the back. There should be an ally that connects to it."

Rinoa winked at the man apologetically. "Thanks a lot!" She exclaimed, and walked back to her waiting SeeDs, and they went out onto Timber's streets once again. "They said we have to look for the pub. I'm pretty sure it's near the train station, and that's over this way." Rinoa nodded her head to its general direction, and they were off again.

"Um…" Squall said after a while. Rinoa looked at him curiously. "When exactly do you plan on informing us of this plan of yours?"

Rinoa clapped her hands together. _Oh, right. I haven't done that yet. Well, now's a good time as any._ "It's nothing extremely complicated like that train operation we had back there. I just figured we'd rush the place before they can say their announcement." Rinoa didn't find the need to also tell them that she planned on making an announcement of her own.

Squall didn't seem too dazzled, yet again, but didn't fight it. They soon reached the part of the city were the pub was located, and Rinoa pointed it out from the place on the stairs that descended towards it. It was outside the pub that they noticed two Galbadian soldiers.

"Heh heh...for a country bumpkin he sure had some good stuff," the first soldier said.

"Yo, better ease off a little. These Timber hicks hate us enough as it is," the said replied.

"Maybe we should play it cool?" Rinoa offered as they made their way down the steps and towards the officers. The said officers had stopped their conversation upon sight of the trio, and the first soldier pointed at them.

"Let's get 'em!" He had yelled, and they rushed at them.

Rinoa eyes widened as one came at her, thinking it'd be easier to dispose of the girl first. Not having a ton of fighting experience under her belt, and being completely petrified, it seemed a flawless plan. Rinoa hesitantly raised her right arm, which garnished her Blaster Edge, and slowly pulled back the boomerang device that was to be projected out.

If Zell had not pulled the man away from her in due timing, Rinoa would have been too late in releasing it, and she knew it. She could feel her hands shaking. She was not used to this…how could you ever be, striping someone of their lives? But Zell, and Squall…they seemed to defy that belief. They went about it as if it was a normal bodily function, like taking in air. The soldier still tried to point his gun at Rinoa though Zell tried to change is line of target. A shot rang out though, and Rinoa screamed and fell down to her knees, grabbing onto her head.

Feeling no immediate pain, Rinoa looked up to see that Zell was able to deter the shot for the gun was pointed up. "I guess no one ever taught you not to fire at ladies, huh!?" Zell asked angrily, elbowing the man in the head. The guy flipped his gun and whacked Zell with the butt of it, getting Zell even more enraged. Tearing her eyes away from the fury of Zell's punches and kicks, Rinoa saw Squall on the other side, fighting the second one. He had just taken a harsh beating, and Rinoa found her chance to be of some use.

Aiming purposely to have a missed target, Rinoa unleashed the boomerang, and it flew through the air and whipped right in front of the guard, narrowing missing having his nose chopping off his face. Squall took a step back, he being just as caught off guard himself, and as the boomerang made and arc in the air and headed back towards Rinoa, it hit the soldier at the side of his leg. The cracking noise that was soon after heard told them that it was broken, and Squall took the moment to finish the person off.

Rinoa had to take a step backwards because of the force of the boomerang reattaching to her weapon, and she slowly lowered her hand by her side, looking at the two now unconscious, and probably soon dead, men. Squall bent down, retrieving some sort of card from one of the bodies, and made his way into the pub. Zell looked at her, wondering what she was staring at, and soon followed suit. Rinoa stood there, motionless, for a while. Letting out a labored sigh, Rinoa entered the dark pub after them.

The air was heavy polluted with the strong smell of cigarette smoke and the bitter odor of alcohol. Waving a hand in front of her in a feeble attempt to breathe in semi-purified air, Rinoa walked towards Squall and Zell, who stood awaiting her. She could easily overhear to people's conversation.

"I've had enough of this city! I came from Dollet to have me a good time. And now... Trains are no longer running... Can't even stay in a hotel because of some stupid official...! Harassed by Galbadian soldiers... Had my precious card stolen... This hasn't been my day..." It came from a deadbeat who sat slumped against a door at the back of the establishment, his voice effortlessly identified with a drunken slur.

The group tediously made their way towards the rear end of the pub as the bartender commented on what the man said. "Those jerks... They think they can use brute force to get anything they want. Hell... This town's a good example..."

"Yeah... Everything's jacked up because the resistance tried to kidnap the president." Rinoa froze momentarily, then continued her way up the stairs and stood in front of the drifter.

"Thanks to them, the trains have stopped... There's Galbadian soldiers all over the place...All because of them!!! Don't they understand I'm the one suffering from their reckless actions!? Stupid, boneheaded, good-for-nothing resistance! You can just kiss my..."

"Hey!" Rinoa yelled angrily, making a fist by her side, it shaking in rage as well. What the hell did that man know, anyway? _No one asked you to leave your precious Dollet to come here, now did we?_

"You don't understand anything! The resistance is fighting for Timber's future! They're all going the best they can. It's the Galbadian soldiers and their leader who are at fault!" The bartender spat sharply, just as furious as Rinoa was. Nodding in total agreement, Rinoa relaxed her fist. She looked at the bartender briefly, but didn't recognize him from any of the resistance factions, and this elated her somewhat. A regular resident of Timber, sticking up for them and their mistake. _We didn't let them down after all._

"Pshhh…" Was all the drifter could retort, and this made Rinoa happier. _Yeah, he sure showed you, didn't he?_ Rinoa thought happily. Glancing back at the drifter, Rinoa noticed he was blocking their path to the alley.

"What should we do?" Rinoa whispered to Squall, but he didn't reply to her, and spoke instead to the drifter.

"We need to get through."

"Geez, and now I'm getting dissed by some punk...!? Owner, gimme another drink!"

Rinoa let out a disgusted laugh and threw her arms in the air in frustration. Squall, though, remembered that the man mentioned that he had lost a card, and searched his pockets for the one he had found on the person outside.

"…Is this your card?" He asked lazily, handing it over to him.

The man took the guard rudely and his eyes widened as he looked at it closely. "Huh? …It is! Why do you have it!?"

"…Found it outside."

Rinoa watched the two converse, and hoped that the drifter believed them.

"Are you serious?" The drifter said, eyeing them both for any hint of a lie. "…Okay. Thanks. Know what? I'm feelin' generous! So you can keep that card. And also…this one!" He handed Squall two cards, and Rinoa watched with mild awe. _That was quite a change._

"I'll move out of the way now." The drifter tried to stand up, but to no avail. "Hey, owner. I can't stand up. Can ya help me?"

The owner/bartender moved out from behind the bar and helped the man stand up, bringing him over to a barstool, the doorway now free. Rinoa looked at Squall and Zell happily, and they walked out to the alley. As they walked through the passageway towards a gated area where stairs could be seen, the three doubtlessly noticed the outside monitor.

"Whoa, an outdoor TV!" Zell exclaimed, and he ran ahead to get a closer look.

Rinoa slowed down her walk, staring at the ominous-looking device. "This is creepy…" Rinoa said in a meek voice, then looked over at Squall. "What is it?"

"This noise is broadcast over most of the frequencies. Something has to be done about this before they can broadcast it over the air."

"Oh, really? Actually, I was wondering myself," Zell said, turning around to face them. Rinoa smiled slightly, wondering if he was being sarcastic. Just then, they heard something was heard rummaging through some garbage and empty boxes, and the SeeD's suddenly went into a fighting stance. Rinoa looked between the two, thinking they were 'on' way too much. A figure crashed through and landed in front of them. That scared the lights out of her, and Rinoa hid behind Squall, slowly peeking from behind his strong physique to see that it was only Watts.

"The president's in the studios now, sir. Too many guards now, so we won't be able to storm the place, sir!" Watts said to them, and disappeared just as fast as he appeared. Rinoa blinked blankly, staring at the place where she was sure Watts was just standing. Feeling Squall turn his head to stare at her, Rinoa laughed embarrassingly and walked out in front of him, Watts' words sinking in.

"So we can't just rush in…We've gotta come up with a new plan now!" Rinoa put a hand to her chin thoughtfully, and began to pace back and forth, talking while she thought. "If the president leaves, maybe the guards will be gone, too? That's when we do OUR broadcast. It might not be as influential but it's better than nothing, right? We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?" Rinoa looked at Squall and Zell expectantly, wondering if they were up for another battle if need be.

"Don't worry about us. We'll fight your enemies based on your decision. That's our duty," Squall said.

Rinoa slowly lowered her hand, looking right at him. _Wha…What? _She moved her gaze to Zell, hoping he would talk some sense into him, but seemed to agree with Squall as well.

"You tell us to go, we go. Even if it is a losing battle."

Rinoa's eyes widened in shock, feeling as if she had to clean out her ears for she would not believe for a second what she just heard. _So…if I told you to jump off a bridge to your deaths, you would do so? You would go into a battle knowing full well that you would lose, and not use common sense to think for a second and retreat?_ "How sad…" Rinoa said dispiritedly. "Act on my decision? That's our duty?" She asked them bitterly, looking to the ground and searching it for some sort of comfort. _Can you not think for yourselves!?_ "Oh, what an easy life it must be, just to follow orders…" Rinoa said mockingly, her voice still sharp with bitter.

"Call it what you want. All we want is for you to achieve your goal using our help." Squall said, and Rinoa felt he was annoyed by her words.

_Oh, yes, all **'you'** want is to help me achieve my purpose. You only want it because that is what you're **paid** to want. That is what I'm **ordering **you to want…_ Rinoa thought, and narrowed her eyes, sick at the thought. 

"I find it hard to believe that you can do it, though..." Squall continued, though he trailed off, thinking he shouldn't have started in the first place.

This caught Rinoa's attention, and moved her from feeling sorry to becoming slightly irritated. "W-what did you say!?" She yelled, walking right up to him and stood right in his face. _This has got to be good. Maybe they do have a rational bone in their body._ "If you have something to say, just say it!"

"Forget it."

Oh, no, you are not getting off the hook that easily. "You started it. The least you can do is finish it." _I really want to know what you think for once. Show me that you're not some walking zombie without a thought in the world._ "Come on, what's on your mind?" Rinoa pushed, her tone more gentle now.

"…Just forget it."

Squall had turned away from her now, walking towards the gate. Rinoa let out a sigh and rotated around herself, looking at his back. "…Tell me." She said, it almost a whisper. She then crossed her arms, anger bubbling up again. _Okay, then. I'll use your own words against you. See how you like it._ "This is an order. An order from your client!" Rinoa demanded. She was going to get an answer out of him no matter what.

Squall seemed to freeze for a second, being caught in his own words, and slowly turned to look at her. "How serious are you...? Really...? The 3 of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy?" Getting caught up in his momentum, Squall carried on. "On top of that, you can't make a decision without our input, right? How do you think we feel, working for such an organization?"

Looking at Rinoa now, she had a heartbroken look written over her entire body. She felt like she was going to cry. It made what he said earlier hurt even more. _So this…is how you feel, huh? And still you're willing to take orders from me? …This isn't a game! We may not be as educated as you, but we've got something that you'll never learn within your school walls…Something to really fight for, with all of our hearts and soul. You can't get that taught to you, spoon-feed. You have to experience it on your own. And maybe…until you figure that out…then…_

"…Sorry. Guess I got a little carried away," Squall said, probably noticing the look on her face.

Rinoa shook her head solemnly. "You know…Maybe this was all a big mistake. I thought everything would work out fine once SeeD came to help us. But, I guess it's not that easy. You were all hired. It's not like you're one of us." Rinoa's voice faltered, and she had to take a deep breath to keep from bawling her eyes out. "Um…let's see…" She scratched the side of her head with a shaking hand.

"We'll cancel the plan, and we'll disperse for now. We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?" She turned to leave, but then looked back at them. "So...you guys probably think this is all a game to us. ...Well, it's not! We're serious. So serious...it hurts." Rinoa let out a whimper, and ran off in the direction Watts went to, passing by Selphie walking the opposite way to where she had just felt.

Rinoa ran as far away as she could, then stopped, collapsing onto her knees. No one ever thought they could ever amount to anything…that **she** could amount to anything. Leaning against the brick wall of the Timber Maniacs, Rinoa brought her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly towards her, burying her face in her lap. It hurt everywhere, with everything she did. It hurt when she breathed, it hurt when her heart beat. And so, Rinoa let it out, weeping, feeling like it would never stop. Everyone thought she was always smiling, cheerful, upbeat, never down. They never saw her when she was like this, not really. And most of the time she wasn't like this, not really. But, when she was…

She wouldn't let them see her cry.


	8. Her Childhood Knight

[Yippee! Another cookie! :adds it to her pile: Thankies so much, guys. To trekken, do you mean when they're at Galbadian Garden? Hmm, I'll see what I can do!]

Rinoa laughed slightly as she wiped away her now cold tears and stood up. "This is silly. I'm finished feeling sorry for myself." She brushed herself off and walked out of the alley and back onto the streets of Timber, near the train tracks where she and the SeeD's had recently been dropped off earlier. As she walked, Rinoa heard an announcer come onto the podium at the TV Station, but didn't bother to turn around and watch.

"…This is an actual broadcast over the air! Yes, it's been 17 years since a live broadcast has been possible! Oh, please excuse me…I seem to have lost my composure. We would like to present to you today a message from the…"

Rinoa tuned off the rest of the announcer's speech, having stopped dead in her tracks as her ears picked up another conversation that was right beside her.

"Hey! Did you hear? That resistance group…what's its name? Forest Owls…? Yeah! Word is that those Galbadian Army punks, about 3 miles from here, found the base down the tracks. They say it's completely destroyed."

"What!? No way! That's a damn shame…"

"Yeah, I hear its because they tried to assassinate that President of Galbadia or something."

"Speaking of the fat bastard, he's on the freaking big screen!"

Rinoa breath got caught in her throat, and her blood ran cold. _They…they found us?_ Rinoa thought frantically. She knew that they were good at escaping and hiding, but… _Did they get out okay?_ Her thoughts ran away, thinking of the possibilities, and she absentmindedly turned to look up at the large TV, which could have easily been seen all across Timber.

"…Unfortunately, there are some trifling problems standing between Galbadia and other nations, and they must be resolved," President Deling went on, and a sudden noise of something breaking was heard in the background. This made Rinoa take more of a focus on the telecast, staring at the man who was undoubtedly at fault for the horrendous crime put upon her friends. The President went on, unfazed.

"I plan to convene with other nations' leaders immediately to resolve these problems. At this time allow me to introduce the ambassador who will be my representative for the conference. The ambassador is the Sorceress..."

Rinoa crossed her arms, wondering what trash the man was trying to pollute their minds with, when Seifer abruptly appeared and crashed the speech. Rinoa's heart skipped a beat, and she brought a hand to her mouth as she gasped. The blonde hair, the green eyes, his signature long, gray trenchcoat, and now his face embellished with a scar, it was really him.

"Seifer!?" Rinoa cried, and she clasped her hands together expectantly. What was Seifer doing here, of all places? _You came to help us, didn't you?_ Rinoa asked herself a bit worriedly, wondering what he got himself into...What she got him into. She watched as the Galbadian soldiers tried to restrain him, but Seifer fought them and turned his gunblade on President Deling. 

Rinoa took a couple steps forward, wanting desperately to run over there. But she remembered that the Forest Owls were in trouble. _You know they're good at escaping! They're fine…I'm sure of it. I hope it. There's nothing you can do now. He needs your help!_ After a few moments of the inner battle, Rinoa shook her head of hesitancy and ran back into the alley of which she came. She came across the spot where she was fighting with Squall, but the group was long gone.

Noticing the now opened gate, Rinoa went inside and up the stairs to the TV Station. Seeing no one in the first room, where the President was standing making his speech, Rinoa ran into the other room and came to a stop, bending over to catch her breath before standing up straight. "Hey guys!" Rinoa said somewhat cheerfully, and looked around at the faces staring at her, but none of which were Seifer's. "Where's Seifer?"

"We don't know," Squall answered.

Rinoa looked at him. _Oh…missed him again._ "He'll be ok, right?" She asked him hopefully. He didn't answer, and she glanced at all of them, slightly losing her hope as each didn't try to even fake it just for her.

"What are you doing here? Did something happen?" Zell asked to break the silence.

"They found our base. It's completely destroyed," Rinoa replied.

"And everyone else?" Selphie inquired.

Rinoa paused before answering her. "They're fine," She said, trying to convince herself as much as them. "They're good at escaping."

Selphie nodded, and it was silent once again. Quistis spoke this time. "We should get out of here, before more soldiers come." The group, still silent, agreed, and made their way out of the building. Coming upon the base of the stairs, Rinoa voiced something.

"I've been thinking…We have to stay away from Timber for a while." _I have to stay out of Timber for a while. They would do what they did to my comrades, I'm sure of it. _"Is there a safe place you can take me?" Rinoa asked, almost sounding like a helpless little girl. In case he might take it the wrong way, she continued. "This is an order, an order from your client, remember?"

Squall wavered, thinking she was using that line again as an excuse. "…Alright."

Rinoa stared at him for a while, wondering if that was all he was going to say. It was supposed to be a sort of joke, saying it was his client's order to protect her, but Squall replied in a formal manner. _Well, where are we going? Aren't…you going to give me a proper apology?_ But she still stood there, and he still didn't say anything else. Sighing, Rinoa turned and walked with Quistis back to the pub.

As they entered the establishment once again, a woman inside turned to look, in case it was Galbadian soldiers, and found it was Rinoa. Brightening up, the woman ran towards her and the group. "Rinoa! I heard your base is in serious trouble. Come over to my place until things settle down."

Rinoa smiled herself, recognizing the woman as the leader of the Forest Fox. She was glad they all had a place to hide until at least the Galbadian Army began to leave the city. "I appreciate it. Thank you…" Rinoa said, her voice filled with the deepest of gratitude.

Turning to look at the others, Rinoa motioned for them to follow her, and they quickly went out the front door. "This way!" Rinoa directed as she ran, looking back from time to time to make sure they were behind her. The city looked completely barren; there wasn't a soul out at all. That made it easy to run freely without having to be delayed by a crowd, but also simple to spot, especially from far way. They arrived at the woman's house quite easily, and Rinoa stopped in front of it. "This is it," Rinoa said, and entered.

The woman was already inside, having run ahead of them. "I'll let you know if anything changes," the woman started, heading for the door to be lookout. " 'Til then, make yourself at home. "

Rinoa nodded. "Thanks, chief." The group moved away from the door and the windows, huddling in the kitchen and by the stairs.

"Chief?" Squall asked when the woman was out of earshot.

"She's the leader of the 'Forest Fox'," Rinoa explained. "Almost everyone's a resistance member in this town. But right now, we're the only ones that are really active." She then was silent, as if someone could sense they were in the house if she spoke. "Let's stay here for a while," Rinoa continued after some time. They didn't really have any place else to go; Squall still hadn't said anything on that account.

There was brightness outside, as if someone had thrown a flash grenade, and Rinoa closed her eyes, though she still was able to see the illumination from behind her eyelids.

"I still don't get it," Selphie said. She had been thinking about what had just happened, and couldn't figure it out. "What did Seifer come here for?"

Rinoa reopened her eyes and looked at Selphie opening her mouth to answer but then closing it. Should she…tell them? "I think…" Rinoa started, and all eyes were on her again. She gulped, then went on. "He came to help us, the 'Forest Owls'. I talked about it a lot with him." _We talked about a lot of things that summer._ "So please…don't think too badly of him." _It's not his fault._

There was a sudden knock at the door, and everyone's heads snapped in that direction. Rinoa wondered if she was the only one feeling nervous, with her heart beating hard. _It can't end like this._

"Anybody in here!?" It was a Galbadian soldier.

The woman quickly took action, standing close to the door to answer. "What is this!? I have 2 small children in here. Don't do anything to frighten them!"

There were then rapid footsteps coming down the stairs, and everyone's heads turned in that direction to see a girl standing there. "Upstairs…Hurry!"

The SeeD's quickly ascended up the stairs, but Rinoa wasn't so quick to run away; could they just leave the woman there to fend against the soldier? "Will she be okay?" Rinoa asked as she slowly went up the stairs after them.

"She'll be fine," The girl's voice came from behind her, reassuringly. "The legend goes…that my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking and beauty."

"That 'beauty' part sure makes it sound like a legend," Rinoa heard Selphie mutter, and Rinoa hoped the girl behind her didn't hear. _Man, these people really never stop with the insults, do they?_

"You guys just stay in here until the coast's clear, ok?" The girl told them, and closed the door behind them, leaving the group of 5 alone in the bedroom. Quistis soon spoke up, continuing the conversation from downstairs and confirming Rinoa's beliefs.

"He was so angry when he found out it was only the 3 of you dispatched to Timber," Quistis started, then cleared her throat to impersonate Seifer's voice. " 'What!? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force! And all they dispatch are 3 rookie SeeD members!? Dammit! I'm going to Timber!' " Quistis laughed slightly and shook her head. "I never would have guessed he was serious about it."

Yeah, that sounds a lot like Seifer… Rinoa thought, and smiled sweetly, thinking of him. Everyone let out an anxious laugh at her impersonation, which wasn't half-bad, and they were thrown into an awkward silence once again. Everyone was in some way, shape or form, wondering if Seifer was all right. It didn't matter that some or none of them were quite attached to the man.

"What's going to happen to Seifer?" Quistis said. They might as well talk about it; it was better than the silence.

"He may already be dead," Squall said simply.

Rinoa was surprised by how easily Squall mentioned that, and decided to state how she felt. "How can you be so casual? I feel…sorry for him."

Squall laughed, and Rinoa gave him a look that could kill. "What's so funny!? You're terrible!" Rinoa yelled at him. This was one of their comrades, right? _How can he laugh about such a delicate situation?_

"So…why do you think Seifer may already be dead?" Selphie asked Squall, hoping to stop a fight from escalating between the two.

"The president of Galbadia and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. It's no surprise that Seifer may have been killed because of it," Squall answered.

Rinoa listened to his answer. He may have had a point, but that still didn't give him the right to act the way he was. "Even so! I still hope he's alive."

"As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything... You feel less pain," Squall stated after being silent. Rinoa looked up at him, feeling that was such a deep and sad way to look and live through life. _What's the point of living if you don't have hope?_ _What keeps you going?_

"Anyway, whatever wish you have is none of my business."

Rinoa then looked at him rather disdainfully. He always managed to add something to make things worse and make her change her mind about him. _I know it's none of your business. I just thought it'd be nice to share…and not have you bring everyone down. _"…You're mean. MEANY!!!"

"…Sorry," Squall said rather reluctantly, and Rinoa turned away from him and his lame attempt at an apology.

The door opened soon after that, and the woman came back into their line of view. "The Galbadian forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around. If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistent those soldiers can be!" The woman went back downstairs, and the group followed suit. But coming downstairs just left them standing around there instead of upstairs. They still didn't know where to run off to.

"Squall, any thoughts on where to go?" Quistis asked. She may have been his instructor, but he was the assigned leader to the mission. Rinoa crossed her arms and tiled her head rather mockingly, awaiting the answer that she'd been looking for from him for a while now. "Getting out of here is only the first step," Quistis continued when Squall didn't answer, as if reading his mind.

"What do you mean?"

"Garden Code, Article 8, line 7," Quistis recited from memory.

Squall was silent once again, it seemed to be his forte, Rinoa thought, and he spoke when he finally came to the answer. "Head for the nearest Garden…"

"Very good!" Quistis exclaimed, feeling that was her handiwork that he was able to figure it out. "From here, that would be Galbadia Garden."

Rinoa perked up, standing straighter. _Galbadia…_ She knew the landscape moderately well; her father did work there for some time, after all. "We can take the train from here and get off at a station called East Academy," Rinoa said. She didn't know if it was safe for her to go to the city that she was fighting against, but figured it was another Garden, like the one in Balamb, so it should be fine.

"From there, we have to go through the forest west of the station to get to Galbadia Garden. I've been there several times. We should be ok," Quistis said.

"…Ok then…" Squall said slowly, as if doubting the plan. Nothing seemed to please him. "We'll escape from Timber and head to Galbadia Garden. Selphie and Rinoa are with me. Let's go!"

"You be careful, now," the woman said as the group headed for the door. Rinoa, still mildly surprised that Squall wanted her in his group, quickly turned her head to look at the woman before she walked out.

"You be care, too. And thank you so much!" Rinoa said, and met up with Squall and Selphie, and they made their way towards the train station to meet up with the other party. The streets were now slowly becoming busy again, and the regular soldiers that hung around were indeed back to their usual posts. They made sure to walk quickly past them, with their faces averted. Though it took more time to go back then leaving the area, and a lot more nerve-wracking, the three eventually caught sight of Quistis and Zell by the stairs near the station.

"Good, we all made it," Quistis said, sounding relieved, and the big group walked towards the entrance when they heard someone calling out at them.

"Rinoa, Squall!"

Rinoa and Squall both stopped, looking at each other before looking around at the people around them, trying to figure out what said their names. The others had stopped as well and turned to help. But none of them looked like someone they knew.

"It's me!"

This time Rinoa saw the man who had summoned them, and Rinoa made her way towards him, her eyes slowly widening as she stared at the man. "Zone!" Rinoa cried, taking in his disguise. _I knew they got out ok! If Zone made it out, the others had to as well._ Giggling at him, Rinoa quickly hugged him before taking a step back, hoping she didn't bring too much attention to themselves.

Zone smiled slightly and patted her on the back before she pulled away. "You need to go to East Academy, right? There's no more tickets left."

Selphie, of course, let out the group's disappointment, in classic Selphie-way. "Super-Duper-Mega-Bummer!"

"We'll do whatever it takes to get on that train," Squall said. Rinoa hoped he wasn't thinking of killing more people or some other odd insane idea that only he could think up.

"You won't have to do that," Zone said, searching through his pockets, pulling out a wad of tickets. "Lookey here! I have everyone's ticket right here!" He passed one over to Rinoa, who smiled generously at him and bowed slightly, taking it. "One for you." He turned over to Squall and counted out 3, giving them to him. "3 for you SeeD people. Here, I'll give them to the leader. And the last one is for me…"

The group looked at each other, finding out they were a ticket short for the newcomer, Quistis. But Rinoa knew that Zone was going to give it up, and she was worried about that. He may have managed hiding from the Galbadian's till now, but how long could he keep up the charade? She didn't want anyone to be left behind. Zone, having thinking it over, walked over to Quistis, holding out his ticket to her. "Go on. Take it."

Quistis waved her hands out in front of her. "I can't take that. It's yours!"

"Ouch!" Zone quickly stuffed the ticket in Quistis' hands and grasped his stomach. "OuuuuuuucH! My stomach hurts! Ouch!! Just get going! The train's leaving."

Quistis couldn't argue it, and smiled at the man's kindness. "Thank you."

The SeeD's made their way into the station, but Rinoa stayed behind to say goodbye to Zone. "Zone…" Rinoa said sadly, kneeling down with him as he squatted, still holding onto his stomach. "We're gonna see each other again, ok?" She lowered her gaze to the ground, searching it for some other way around this. But there was no other choice, and Rinoa looked back at him. "No matter what, you have to survive. We have to liberate Timber together, remember?" She sort of pleaded with him, squeezing the outside of his forearms as she spoke.

"I know, I know, I'll go hide in a bathroom or something." Rinoa laughed slightly at this, and embraced him once again. She was going to miss his presence. "Now get going." Rinoa nodded and kissed him lightly on the cheek before standing up. She walked slowly at first, fighting the urge to look back for she knew if she did she would never be able to go through with it. So with that, Rinoa ran into the station, finding the rest of the group already on the train platform.

"This train is bound for Dollet stopping at East Academy. This is the last train for today. Please hurry on board," the train announcer declared, and Rinoa hurried towards them as Squall began reviewing their plan.

"The last train... Let me double check... Get off at East Academy and go through the forest, west of the station. Galbadian Garden is located up ahead... Is that correct?"

Quistis nodded. "Indeed. Glad we have a leader with a good memory."

No kidding. Rinoa agreed silently, and boarded the train. Once aboard the train, the announcer spoke once again.

"This train, bound for East Academy, will depart shortly." Sure enough, the train shook a little as it departed from Timber Station.

"We'll…" Squall started, but was interrupted by Selphie, who was trying to get into the other car of the train.

"Open, open, OPEN!" Selphie yelled at it.

"…Make it," Squall finished, sighing.

"Please…" Selphie made a puppy dog face at it. "Open up!"

Figuring none of them would hear the end of it until Selphie got her way, Squall walked over to the counter and used the ticket. Shortly after that, the door slid open.

"Tee-hee! Thanks!" Selphie exclaimed, and walked in.

With there now peace in their car, Squall languidly walked over to Rinoa. She looked up at him, wondering what was on his mind now. She might have fought with him quite a lot recently, but she didn't hold a grudge against him or anything. She just wanted to make friendly with the guy, though it seemed the task was much harder then she first thought. _Well, I'm always up for a challenge._ "Weren't you just saying something?" She asked him.

"It's nothing important, but…" Squall struggled. "Well…We made it."

Rinoa smiled lightly. It was a start, but she doubted that was what he was going to say.

"I have to thank Zone for that," Quistis said.

Rinoa put her hands behind her head and rested against the wall, closing her eyes. "He's into naughty magazines," Rinoa replied openly, thinking that she could somehow repay him that way. With all that was going on, Zone totally needed to relax.

Quistis looked at her, hoping she was joking, but found Rinoa was actually being serious. "I'll keep that in mind…" She said belatedly. She wasn't honestly going to buy the man a bunch of naughty magazines...or would she?


	9. Galbadia Garden

[Hee, I can't thank you guys enough! Oh, yeah, it's okay trekken, I was just wondering if that was indeed the scene! Anywhoo, is that the million Gil question? lol, I'll never tell. Hee, well, it has to be leading up at or after a certain scene, IMO, but any earlier might be a bit oddish considering. So…wait and see is all I can say! Heh heh. Glad to hear I'm doing okay with everything so far, with the thoughts and new scenes and such. I guess I do update a bit faster, but school's soon approaching! Gotta get as much as I can in before then, ne?]

Dust flew up around the group of 5 as they stood at the lonely station of East Academy, watching the train continue on its way to Dollet. The wind had picked up due to the train's acceleration, causing the loose articles of their clothing to be manipulated by the wind and flow freely with the invisible force. Rubbing her eyes of any dirt that could have entered, Rinoa followed the group of SeeDs into the nearby dense forest that was straddled by two large rock mountains on each side.

Though there was a clear enough path already etched into the inhabited forest, Rinoa still found herself being clawed at by adjacent tree branches. They had small talk here and there to break the tension, and Rinoa tried her best to keep it up. If she didn't, she was sure that her mind would wander to Seifer, and she didn't want to think about what could be happening to him. After trekking around the woods for what Rinoa estimated was around 45 minutes, give or take, Quistis spoke.

"We're not too far from Galbadia Garden now!" That must have been the tenth time she had said it.

"Hey, I was just thinking…" Selphie started. "There might be some bad news from the Galbadian government. What if we get caught and then get broadcast to the whole world...!?"

"Whatever happens, happens! Now come on! Let's just keep going!" Zell said sternly, desperately trying to keep his own spirits up, let alone the rest of the group. "I, I'm worried about Balamb Garden," he finally broke down. "If anything happens to Garden, it's all my fault. I'm the one who said we were all from Garden..."

Rinoa blinked curiously; she never knew what happened between the group after Seifer took President Deling hostage and they went off the air. Zell turned to Squall for reassurance. "You think the president will retaliate on Garden?"

"Maybe," Squall answered him dully.

This having not been the answer he was looking for, Zell paused. "…Figures…" He grabbed onto the sides of Squall's open jacket and shook him. "B-B-But, we have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Balamb Garden! They wouldn't lose to the Galbadian army, would they?"

"Depends on how strong the army is."

Rinoa felt irritation beginning to rise up inside of her once again. _What is wrong with him? Is he completely devoid of emotion or purposely doing this for some sick form of entertaining himself?_

Zell released Squall from his gripped and they continued walking. "I know, but…" Zell trailed off, and before he could say anything else, Rinoa jumped in. She couldn't take what Squall was doing anymore.

"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you..." Rinoa butted in sarcastically. "Do you actually have fun acting so callous towards your comrades?" Squall didn't respond, and having him walk ahead of her, she couldn't see the look on his face. She continued nevertheless. "Zell wants your support." Still…nothing. "Any kind of encouragement will make..." _The world of difference…_ Rinoa continued in her head. _What's the point if he doesn't even care._ Rinoa took in a deep breath and tried going about it another way. 

"Don't you ever worry about or even think about the well being of your comrades!?" Silence. "Don't you understand!?" She yelled, almost screaming it at him. _Acting like this makes you no better than the enemy._ "Are you even listening, Squall?" She asked him harshly. The rest of the group made no attempt to try to defend or help either of them; from lack of fear or because they knew it was no use, who knows? Rinoa had half the mind to walk over and slap him in the face. _Would that put some sense into you?_

Squall suddenly stopped in his tracks, and collapsed right on the spot. Rinoa froze as if she was petrified; all her yelling didn't give him some sort of heart attack or something, did it? _I didn't mean for this to happen! _Before she had any time to react, Quistis swayed.

"Uhh…" she murmured, before falling herself.

"M…Me, too…" Selphie whispered, and dropped to the ground.

"What's going on!?" Rinoa yelled frantically. _I killed them all!_ She ran to Squall and felt for a pulse.

"I think…they went to the 'dream world'," Zell said, checking on Quistis and Selphie.

Feeling a pulse, Rinoa let out a heavily relieved sigh and kneeled down beside Squall. Zell squatted between the two, wiping a hand over his forehead.

"Dream world?" Rinoa asked, wondering if that really was what caused everything.

Zell nodded. "Yeah. First time was when we were on the train coming to Timber, actually. Squall, Selphie and I, we just suddenly fell asleep and were in this really weird, but awesome, dream!"

Rinoa bit her bottom lip lightly. That didn't make any sense. _Were they drugged?_ "You all had the same dream? What was it about?"

"Oh, dude, it was about this Galbadian soldier guy named Laguna and his two buddies…uh, what was their names…Kiros and Ward! They were at this bar trying to hook Laguna up with this chick. He was sooo nervous."

What an odd dream. Rinoa thought. She looked at Zell. "Do you think someone drugged you or something?"

"Well, I figured it was sleeping gas. You know, there are people that aren't the greatest fans of us SeeDs."

I wonder why… Rinoa mused, remembering how rude they were at times.

"We never really went into it much, since we did have to think about the Timber mission and everything."

"Yeah…" Rinoa trailed off, feeling Squall beginning to stir beside her. Soon enough, Squall, Selphie and Quistis were wide-awake.

"Was it Laguna again…?" Zell asked them.

"Sir Laguna's in BIG TROUBLE! I hope he'll be ok…!!!" Selphie sounded genuinely worried about a person in her dreams.

Quistis rubbed her head, feeling twigs in her hair. "Doesn't seem like the first time for you all. What is this?"

Squall was quiet for a while, as usual, and spoke eventually. "We'll just be wasting time trying to figure it out. Let's keep going."

"Yeah, let's go!" Zell said, standing to his feet. "I think we're almost there."

Rinoa looked thoroughly relieved that Squall and the others were all right. "Umm...Squall..." Rinoa started, helping him to his feet, though he didn't want it. She flinched slightly, letting go of him. _Did I…hurt you?_ "I think I may have said too much. I'm sorry." She looked at him expectantly, but all he did was shake his head, looking like he wanted to say something, but he didn't, and he continued on forward.

Rinoa lowered her gaze and felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Lifting her head she turned to see that it was Quistis.

"Hey, don't worry about him. That's the way he always is. It's hard but…eventually you get used to it, you know? It becomes almost funny, you know how he's going to react to things and you can tease him about it." Quistis smiled, and Rinoa returned the gesture, smiling herself.

"I know what you mean. But it gets so frustrating!" Rinoa put her hands on her hips.

Quistis laughed and started walking. "Join the club."

The group eventually made it to Galbadia Garden. As they entered the front gates, the SeeD's 'Oooed' and 'Ahhhed' as they began quickly pointing out how different it was from Balamb Garden. Rinoa simply looked around curiously. It at least _looked _different, and that was all she could really say. She only visited Balamb Garden once, and that was at night when it was all glamorous for their party.

"Wow…Completely different…" Selphie said, turning to walk backwards to survey everything again.

"Sure is quiet," Zell uttered, crossing his arms.

"…I like it," Squall commented. Rinoa giggled, finding this funny, and quite typical of him. _Quistis was right._

They passed through the security gates and stood on the other side of them.

"Could you leave this one up to me? I've been here several times and I know the headmaster pretty well. I'll go and explain our situation," Quistis said, and ran off.

The group headed further into the Garden, and as they walked, the group was called to the 2nd floor reception room, and they made their way up.

"So Quistis attended classes here?" Rinoa said, immersed in the sights.

"I wonder if they have a Garden Festival here, too?" Selphie asked excitedly.

Upon reaching the room, they spread out and picked different spots to sit or stand in wait.

"How long are they gonna make us wait…?" Zell said impatiently, and Quistis promptly entered shortly after.

"How'd it go?" Squall inquired.

"They understand our situation. And Balamb Garden is safe." Zell let out a loud, alleviated sigh. "The attack on the president in Timber was classified as an independent action. There was an official notice from the Galbadian government saying that Balamb Garden is not being held responsible."

"So, Seifer's taking all the blame?" Zell asked, stretching out to a more comfortable position on the couch opposite of where Rinoa sat. Rinoa instinctively almost folded her legs up to her chest at his words, heavily worried.

"The trial's over, and the sentence has been carried out..." Quistis trailed off, the outcome fairly obvious.

"...He was executed?" Rinoa blurted out despite herself. "...Of course he was. He attacked the president. He sacrificed himself for the Forest Owls..." Rinoa blinked quickly, feeling the sting of warm tears welling up in her eyes. _Seifer…_

"It was your group that got Seifer involved in all this," Quistis said, and Rinoa looked at her almost sharply; it almost sounded like she was blaming her for Seifer's death. Quistis continued. "You're a resistance faction, right? You must have been prepared for the worst. I'm sure Seifer was prepared, too. So don't think of it as Seifer sacrificing himself for you."

Rinoa looked away from her. _Why…am I not worth sacrificing?_ _How else should I think of it, then? Did Seifer die in vain?_

"I'm sorry. I guess that wasn't much consolation," Quistis said, feeling like she wasn't very good at cheering people up. She sat down on the end of the couch that Rinoa was sitting on. Quistis went on almost unconsciously, remembering Seifer. "I don't have any good memories of him. I've seen some troubled children, but he was beyond troubled. Well, he wasn't really a bad guy."

No, it wasn't much consolation at all…He…Seifer…he may have been one of the only reasons I fight so strongly for Timber's independence…Was he really a problem child? I…never knew him when he was in Balamb Garden; I'm an outsider…I guess…I don't know that side of him. Rinoa thought inwardly. "I...really liked him," Rinoa said out loud suddenly. She wanted to tell them the side of Seifer she knew; she didn't want him to be remembered the way Quistis was set on doing so. "He was always full of confidence, smart...Just by talking to him, I felt like I could take on the world."

"Your boyfriend?" Selphie asked, leaning her arms against the back of the sofa, peering at Rinoa.

"I don't really know," Rinoa said truthfully. _I always thought of him as my boyfriend because of the way he always encouraged me with his confidence…the way he made me feel…_ "I…I think I was in love. I wonder how he felt…?" _I guess…I'll never know now._

"Do you still like him?" Selphie questioned, finding this interesting. The Seifer Rinoa talked about sure sounded a lot different from what the rest of them knew him as.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be talking about it." Rinoa smiled sadly at Selphie and brought her legs closer to her body. "It was last summer... I was 16. Lots of fond memories..." Rinoa stopped there. That…was something that belonged to her and Seifer alone. She didn't feel like sharing that part of them at the moment. It was all she had left of him.

"I didn't like the guy, but executed...?" Zell said, putting his head in his hands.

"You really hated Seifer, didn't you, Zell?" Selphie now turned her questions over to Zell.

"Yeah, but... He was from Garden... He was one of us. If I can, I wanna get revenge."

Rinoa was about to bury her head in her lap again when Quistis suddenly spoke, her voice filled with alarm.

"What's wrong, Squall?" Quistis asked him, troubled. She had looked up to see his reaction to the news and he had on the most peculiar of emotions written all over his face. It was so hard to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling right then.

"I won't have it!" Squall yelled, and the group almost jumped right out of their skin from his sudden emotional outburst. Rinoa slowly placed her feet back on firm ground, trying to lock onto his eyes though they darted all over the place.

Squall…It's like you're having some sort of emotional breakdown…That's what happens when you keep what you feel and think inside you all the time… Rinoa was scared senseless. It looked like Squall would just completely lose it and tear them all to shreds. _Squall…_

"W-What!?" Zell exclaimed.

"Are you MAD!?" Selphie shouted at the apparently delirious man.

Squall ran to the door. "I'm not having anyone talk about me in the past tense!" He screamed at them without turning around, and ran straight out the door, leaving everyone puzzled.

"Squall!" Rinoa cried out to him, jumping to her feet and running after him before she knew what she was doing. She just felt like she couldn't leave him alone in the state that he was in. She ran halfway down the hall and stopped, looking both ways; she didn't know where he had gone, but she was going to look through the entire Garden from top to bottom if she had to.

"Rinoa!"

She turned to see Quistis standing at the doorway. "Rinoa, just let him be. He needs to be alone right now. And we can't have you being lost in here, either."

Rinoa looked away from her but made no motion to move either way. "I…" Rinoa didn't know what to say. She supposed Quistis did have a point. _But still…I want to know that's he alright._

"Don't worry, Instructor," Zell said, walking past her and putting an elbow on Rinoa's shoulder, leaning lightly, which was easy for him, since he was a couple inches taller than she was. "I'll escort Rinoa around. I can't stand sitting in that room anymore." Rinoa playfully stuck out her tongue at Zell, feeling he was silently teasing her of her height, but was happy. She could look for Squall and have a tour at the same time.

"Yeah! Totally!" Selphie skipped out of the room. "I wanna go see their Quad!"

Quistis shook her head and laughed, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Well, it has been a while since I've been here. I'd like to take a look around myself."

Jumping up and down happily, Rinoa smiled brightly and took off with Zell close behind her, Selphie skipping along the opposite way.

"Just keep your ears open for announcements!" Quistis yelled to their retreating backs, doubting quite heavily that they heard her.


	10. A New Order

[Sorry about the lateness of this chapter…the disk I had it on lost the file somehow…Grr…so I had to rewrite it. It feels like this one worse than the first one!! I was mad at it for a while, so that's why I didn't finish it till today. Much apologizes. After the initial anger, I really got into it and had a lot of fun finishing it up! So I hope you enjoy!]

Rinoa led the way to the circular path that was directly above the main hall, where, if they had looked right over the rail below them, Squall was there talking with Fujin and Raijin. Rinoa rested her arms on the railing and leaned against it, looking off at the distance where she could barely make out the Front Gates.

"This place is so huge," Rinoa exclaimed. _It's gonna take us a while to find Squall._ "I'm exhausted just looking at it."

"Yeah, it must be twice the size of Balamb Garden, if not more," Zell said, putting his back to the railing and resting his elbows on it. "You gotta wonder."

"Oh? Being a little suspect, aren't you? " Rinoa questioned, turning towards the stairs. Zell followed close beside her.

"Well, I mean, these guys train hardcore, like they're part of some army…" Zell trailed off, seeing a group of students at the base of the stairs doing push-ups, somehow emphasizing his point. Though Zell had to fight the urge to want to work out with them; it would completely make what he said mean nothing. Rinoa looked both ways, Squall now gone from his previous location, and she headed north.

"They even got cadets marching around like they're on guard duty," Zell added quietly, for a pair of students had just walked past them. "I bet you that's where all the funding comes from, the Galbadian Army, because they train soldiers here for them. Isn't that who we're up against? You just gotta wonder…"

Rinoa shook her head and smiled, and was about to tell Zell that he was thinking way too much into it, when they reached the end of the open hall at the athletic track. Rinoa put a hand up above her eyes to block out the sun's rays when she noticed that a group of students were huddled around a canine…

"Angelo! How you doing, girl?"" Rinoa cried, and ran over to the group. They backed off somewhat, watching the girl kneel down and hug the dog, the dog putting its paws on Rinoa's lap and licking at her face.

"Oh, are you its owner?" One of the students asked. "One of the cadets on patrol saw it wandering the compound outside, so they brought it here so it could run around freely." The student clapped his hands. "Come on, back to work!" He ordered, and group dispersed to begin training once again.

Rinoa nodded her thanks and Zell patted Angelo on the head a couple times. "I wonder how she got all the way out here," Zell thought aloud. Rinoa looked up at Zell and stood up.

"Zone knew that we were heading for East Academy…and he got the tickets…perhaps he somehow got Angelo on the train and we just didn't notice she was so close by." Rinoa laughed lightly and shook her head at the farfetched idea. "In any case, who cares? She's here now, aren't you girl?" Rinoa cooed. "Well, Squall isn't here, let's move on."

They walked back to the hall and Rinoa pointed off to the left of them when they came about the other side. Rinoa took the time to ask Zell something that's been on mer mind since the first time she met Squall at the dance and the when she had seen Seifer on the huge TV in Timber. "Um, Zell…" Rinoa started, clasping her hands behind her. "You know how Squall and Seifer have those scars on their faces," Rinoa said, running a hand from her forehead down across her nose to show emphasis.

Zell nodded and Rinoa continued. "Um, well…is there some sort of connection, or is it just a really big coincidence?"

"Oh, well," Zell said excitingly. "The story about that has been spread across the Garden in so many different versions. But, here's the real tale. Squall and Seifer were 'training'," Zell started, holding up both hands and making a big exaggeration point with his two fingers. "And Seifer being the ass he was, decided to use a cheap Fire spell trick to catch Squall off-guard. And he swooped in and slashed him right down the face. Heh, course Squall evened the score, and slashed him back up the face. Quite a tale, huh?"

Rinoa laughed slightly at Zell's enthusiasm. "Oh, I see…" Was all Rinoa said, though somewhat lively. _I'm…glad we can talk about Seifer…even if it is like this._ Rinoa smiled as they came upon the end of the hall, which lead in two different directions.

"Hey, Rinoa," Zell started as they walked, taking the path on left after checking that the door on the right only had a group of people playing cards. "Why are you so worried about Squall, anyway? You two have been going at it like you're each other's worse enemy. It's like you hate each other."

"I can't hate him if I don't know him," Rinoa said matter-of-factly, turning to make sure that Angelo was following them. "And I've been bugging him about not caring about his comrades. How would I look if I didn't worry about him, you know?" Zell didn't say anything, figuring she had a point there, and Rinoa hugged herself and rubbed her bare arms as they reached the cold skating compound.

"He's not here either…" Rinoa said, walking over to the high wall and plastic windows, leaning her forehead on it.

"Dude, we should have one of these back at Balamb…imagine the kind of fun—uh, I mean, training, we could have with one of these," Zell said, looking out at the ice rink.

"You really like Balamb Garden, don't you Zell?" Rinoa asked jokingly, turning her head to look at him directly though not taking her forehead off the window.

"Like!? Well, I…it's just, I guess, if I was from Galbadia, I'd love this Garden, too. But you always got a soft spot for you home Garden."

"So you're from Balamb?" Rinoa stood up straight. It was nice talking with someone that actually…spoke. It was easy to talk to Zell, unlike the trouble she was having with Squall.

"My ma lives back in Balamb. My grandfather was a soldier, so I joined Balamb Garden when I was 13 to follow in his footsteps. He was a great man, you know?"

__

At such a young age…no wonder you fight like it's your second nature. "Oh, I see. That's really…honorable. Wait…!" Rinoa snapped her fingers and pointed at Zell suddenly, who jumped back. "You're the son!"

"…Son?" Zell repeated, regaining his composure.

"The night of the ball, I had this driver who drove me to the Garden. He said there was a woman back in town who had a son, and she hoped that he had become a SeeD. I hope I'm not assuming to much in figuring it was you."

"Ah, jeez, figures Ma would tell the whole town," Zell blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "Nah, it's me."

Rinoa giggled. "Did you ever tell her that you past the test?"

Zell nodded. "Yeah, just before we left for the Timber mission, I dropped by and told her. She was ecstatic."

Rinoa smiled and was about to say something when the Garden P.A. system sounded. "Attention SeeD party from Balamb Garden. Please assemble at the front gate."

"Guess that's our cue," Zell said, and he led the way to the Front Gates. As they neared it, only Selphie was there so far. She caught sight of them and ran to meet up with them.

"Finally! Someone else is here! Do you know what it's like waiting out here ALONE!?"

"Nice to see ya again, Selphie," Zell commented, and began shadow boxing while he waited.

"So Squall and Quistis aren't here yet?" Rinoa asked Selphie. Selphie shook her head.

"Nah, it's just me."

"Oh…" Rinoa said a bit sadly. She really wanted to talk to Squall before anything else happened. In the distance, Quistis and Squall were now seen approaching them. Rinoa smiled and ran up to them. Quistis gave her a look that read 'Don't bother,' and she continued walking towards Selphie and Zell. Rinoa either didn't understand the look or didn't care, and she stood in front of him, blocking his way.

"Hey…are you alright?" Rinoa asked him worriedly.

"I'm fine," Squall said in a monotone voice, and made a move to walk around her, but Rinoa stepped to the side and stood in his way again.

"I'm sure you are," Rinoa said, striving to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, though she was sure she failed. _How can you possibly be fine after having an emotional outburst like that? You can't get over that in a matter of minutes._ "It's just…" Rinoa looked down and dug the toe of her shoe into the ground before looking back at him. What was she going to say? She never really planned that out. "Well…if you need to talk about what happened…you said that you didn't want to be just a memory, or something… We all…miss Seifer. You know, it could help with whatever you're feeling if you talk about it."

Squall but a hand to her forehead. He didn't need this now. Him, feelings? Like he'd actually tell anyone what he felt. What happened back there was just a mistake. "Whatever." He really didn't feel like talking about it. Squall tried to walk around her again, and Rinoa stood motionless, letting him pass.

__

Whatever…? It's just like a guy to act like that, right? They don't talk about these things, right? Rinoa said to herself, trying to make herself believe her own words. _Yeah, right. Just you wait, Squall. I'll get you to open up to me…For your own good._ Rinoa let out a frustrated sigh, before turning and walking back behind him.

Quistis was now pacing around. "The headmaster should be coming with orders soon," she said, partly to herself. Zell shook his head, continuing to shadow box, punching at the air and hopping around on the spot.

"He's pretty late for a headmaster," Selphie complained.

A car suddenly began to approach; the sides of it embedded with the Garden symbol. Rinoa caught sight of it. "Oh! I think that's him," Rinoa told the group, and something sparked in her eyes. _If the headmaster finds out that I'm a civilian, that could complicate things._ Rinoa lightly elbowed Squall in his side and he bent his head down so she could whisper to him. "Just pretend I'm a SeeD, too. It'll be less complicated that way."

Squall didn't say anything, probably figuring it was another order, and Rinoa quickly kneeled down to pet Angelo. "You need to go find a place to hide for a little while, okay girl?" Angelo barked and obeyed, scurrying off. Moments later, the car arrived and pulled up in front of the group. The passenger side door swung open and Headmaster Martine stepped out. The others lined up on Squall's right side, with Rinoa on his left, and they stood at attention, saluting him.

Rinoa's heart raced. She never asked Squall to show her how or when to do the salute. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, and mimicked them, a few seconds behind. Martine clasped his hands behind his back and stood tall and straight, eyeing them all. Rinoa thought that the jig is up, for he stared at them for several long seconds, but he finally addressed them and nodded saying, "Good day." He began pacing back and forth, his eyes to the ground. "I have official orders from Headmaster Cid addressed to you. Following regulations, I have gone over these orders."

Rinoa was about to stand normally when the headmaster began pacing, but the SeeDs still stood at attention, and Rinoa wondered if they were going to stand like this for the entire time. Martine continued. "After careful consideration of our options, we have decided to fully assist and cooperate with Headmaster Cid." He paused, almost in thought. "Actually, we too, have been planning for this for quite some time now."

Martine stopped his pacing and looked directly at the SeeDs, getting into the real matter of what he was leading up to. "In order to stress the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation." He took a closer look at them, just noticing now that they were still standing at attention. "At ease," he said almost lazily. The SeeDs and Rinoa relaxed and waited for him to continue.

"You all know about the sorceress being appointed as the peace ambassador for the Galbadian government."

__

Oh, so was that what that bumbling fool was going on about back in Timber? Rinoa thought, figuring the others probably already knew that.

"However, this ambassador thing is just a cover up. There will be no peace talks, only threats." Martine stared at each of them in turn, a grave seriousness in his eyes. He did not want them to think of this lightly. "The sorceress creates fear among people. Therefore, peace talks are impossible. Galbadia is planning to use this fear to negotiate favorable conditions for itself. It is clear that Galbadia's ultimate goal is world domination," he informed them. "Garden is no exception, either."

That surly hit the group rather hard. Garden had always been a neutral body, especially since they had the ability to save a government and overthrow it, even on the same day. And weren't they just exempted from being blamed about the attack in Timber? Why target Garden? Why get rid of a perfect excuse to attack? Martine's next words snapped them back to reality, only to get even more shocking news.

"It is a fact the sorceress is planning to use this Garden as her base." Everyone but Squall gasped. "...We have very few options available to us," Martine said sadly, then sighed. He looked to Squall, him being the squad leader. "We entrust world peace, and the future, to you."

The SeeD's promptly saluted again, but Rinoa was faster this time around. The headmaster reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of folded papers and handed them over to Squall. "Details of the mission are enclosed in these official orders. It would be wise to destroy these documents after you have read them."

The group relaxed once again and Squall took the papers, quickly running over them once. A frown came across his face as he scanned through a section in the order again.

"Any questions?" Martine asked, seeing the look on Squall's face. Squall looked up, then nodded.

"The orders say by means of 'a sniper'," Squall started, looking back down at the words. "We have no one with that skill."

The headmaster nodded, smiling. He knew that was what Squall was going to ask. "Don't worry about it. As part of our collaboration with Headmaster Cid, we know that you have no one certified to be a sharpshooter. That is why we are going to send one of our own people with you. Let me introduce you to an elite sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden." Martine turned away from the group, looking towards the East Side of the grounds.

"Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!" He called.

The group followed his gaze and was met with a tall young man with a black cowboy hat, lying on a nearby grassy hill that surrounded the stone walkway to which they stood. Apparently not hearing the Headmaster calling him, Irvine reached up with black fingerless gloves, pointing upward. A butterfly landed on his finger, and he held his hand steady for a moment before moving his hands quickly, pretending to shoot the insect, which flew away due to his sudden actions. With that, the man stood up, grabbing his gun and resting it on his shoulder. He looked over at them and smirked as he walked over to them.

Wearing a large, fur-lined brown trenchcoat, with matching rawhide brown pants and a sleeveless dark blue vest underneath the coat, the 6-foot blue-eyed brunette looked just like a cowboy.

"This," Martine said as Irvine stood beside him, "Is Irvine Kinneas." With a closer look at him, he was the same age as they were. "He will be your sharpshooter. Leave whenever you are ready. Failure is _not_ an option," the headmaster added, and with that, Martine returned to the car and entered back through the passenger side. As the car pulled back and began driving away, Irvine pointed at the disappearing car with his free hand and pretended to shoot at that, too.

"BANG!" Irvine yelled, and Rinoa resisted the urge to giggle. He was sort of boyish, pretending to shoot at everything, even his own headmaster. He seemed nice enough to Rinoa, and she was going to go easy on him. It couldn't be comfortable hanging around a bunch of SeeDs from a different Garden. She should know; she was in his position before.

"So I'm with you SeeDs from Balamb, eh?" Irvine asked them with a slight smile, though he didn't expect an answer. He quickly turned his attention to Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie, going into a short bow and tipping his hat in their direction. "Hey there. Always nice to work with ladies."

The girls giggled at this, even Quistis. _Ah, a ladies man._ Rinoa thought. _That's interesting._

Irvine turned his attention towards Squall and Zell, giving them a nod. "You two don't look so bad yourselves," he joked. Zell grimaced, and both Squall and Irvine caught sight of it. Zell always overreacted, especially around people like Irvine, who was know beginning to remind them of Seifer. Though if that was a good thing or not depended on who you asked. Looking at how things were going, it might not be a good idea to group those two together.

"You got a problem there, buddy?" Irvine asked Zell.

"That depends," Zell said, closing a hand into a tight fist and taking a few steps towards him. Irvine put his hands up tauntingly and Squall stepped in front of them.

"It's just a joke," Irvine said. "Don't let it bother you and we'll do just fine."

"We'll keep that in mind," Squall said before Zell could react any which way. "I'm Squall Leonhart, the team leader."

"Pleasure," Irvine commented. "So, the head poncho briefed you on the job?"

Squall nodded and held up the papers that Headmaster Martine gave him. The group then huddled around him, wanting to finally find out what they were supposed to do.

"What's our mission?" Quistis asked.

Squall sighed and looked down at the paper. "Our next mission…Is no ordinary mission. It's a direct order from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden."

"It must be something huge then. Especially the way that Martine guy was all serious," Selphie said. The group nodded and waited for Squall to continue.

"We're to…assassinate the sorceress," Squall said blankly, glancing up at his team. Though it did come as a surprise, they figured that was it, and they immediately understood.

__

More killing…? Rinoa thought a little dispiritedly. She knew this sorceress was bad news, but did everything have to resort to death?

"We're to shoot her from afar. Kinneas will be our sharpshooter." Squall nodded over to Irvine. "We're to support Kinneas to our fullest. Should the sniper fail…we are to attack head on."

Irvine looked at Squall and smirked. "Thanks for the support, but I never miss my target," he said with much arrogance, almost laughing at the thought of him failing.

Ignoring them, Squall went on. "Eliminate the sorceress. That's our order. We're going to head to the capital of Galbadia, Deling City. There, we're to meet up with General Caraway to..."

Rinoa couldn't make herself listen to the rest of Squall's words if her life depended on it. All she could hear was the frantic beating of her heart, threatening to beat right out of her body and still continue to pump on the dirty ground below, and words repeating in her mind, getting louder and louder that it could have broken her eardrums from the inside.

__

Deling…Caraway…

Rinoa's blood turned frigid cold.

[My first A/N at the end of a chapter…well, first and foremost, no, I wasn't trying to put Zell and Rinoa together (Though you don't see that pairing a lot, which is a shame). I just found them really close friends in the game, and I'm just building that up now. And Angelo's sudden appearance…yeah, well, I had to put her back in somehow! Just had a lame explanation…And I did add some things to the scenes…thought it'd be cool. Irvine…may sound pretty bad now, but no worries! Or maybe he's always that bad..? Huh…]


End file.
